The Nation - News from Nov. 25, 1986

When a carcinogen transforms a normal cell into a cancerous one, it may make it more able to ward off damage by other poisons, including many toxic anti-cancer drugs, National Cancer Institute researchers said in today’s Journal of Biological Chemistry. The theory may explain the poor record of chemotherapy against cancers of the colon, lung and breast and other common tumors, researchers said. Dr. Charles E. Myers, chief of clinical pharmacology at the institute and author of the report, said scientists found increased enzymes capable of breaking down drugs and other toxins while studying human breast cancer cells.