Novel mechanisms of drug resistance in ATM-deficient cells suggest potential new therapies for cancer and ataxia-telangiectasia

We, with our collaborators at AstraZeneca and elsewhere, have identified mechanisms in cells lacking the apical DNA damage response kinase ATM that cause them to become resistant to certain cancer drugs. These results are important for both understanding cancer drug resistance in the context of sporadic cancers, as well as highlighting potential therapeutic targets for the genetic disease, ataxia-telangiectasia.