A study reports a potential new treatment strategy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) by targeting a protein complex known as CRL4–DTL. Researchers used bioinformatics and laboratory experiments to identify DTL as a key gene that is highly expressed in NPC tumors. High levels of DTL were linked to more advanced disease and poorer patient outcomes, suggesting that the gene plays an important role in helping cancer cells grow and survive.
The study found that DTL helps tumors by promoting the destruction of two important tumor-suppressor proteins, p21 and p53. These proteins normally slow cell growth and trigger cancer cell death. When DTL was suppressed in laboratory experiments, p21 and p53 levels increased, causing cancer cells to stop dividing and eventually die.
Researchers also identified the drug pevonedistat as a promising way to block this pathway. In cell studies, the drug slowed the growth of multiple NPC cell lines and showed stronger effects on cancer cells than on normal cells. In mouse models carrying human NPC tumors, pevonedistat significantly reduced tumor size without causing major side effects. The findings suggest that targeting the CRL4–DTL pathway could become a new targeted treatment approach for patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.