CNRS Breakthrough Illuminates Breast cancer Resistance, Offering New Therapeutic Pathways
Paris – Researchers at the French National center for Scientific Research (CNRS) have identified a key mechanism driving cellular resistance to treatment in breast cancer, a revelation poised to reshape therapeutic strategies for the disease. Published November 7, 2025, the findings detail how cancer cells evade the effects of medication by altering their internal structure, specifically impacting the association of the actin cytoskeleton.
This breakthrough addresses a critical challenge in breast cancer treatment: the growth of resistance to therapies, which contributes to disease recurrence and mortality. Affecting millions worldwide, breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women.Understanding how cancer cells become resistant is paramount to developing more effective, long-lasting treatments and improving patient outcomes. The CNRS research provides a foundational understanding for future drug development aimed at circumventing this resistance, potentially restoring the efficacy of existing therapies and opening doors to novel interventions.
The CNRS team’s examination revealed that the protein “ezrin” plays a central role in reorganizing the actin cytoskeleton within breast cancer cells.This reorganization allows the cells to withstand the cytotoxic effects of chemotherapy drugs. By inhibiting ezrin, researchers were able to restore the sensitivity of resistant cells to treatment in laboratory settings.
“we observed that when ezrin is blocked, the cancer cells lose their ability to adapt and become vulnerable to the drugs again,” explained a lead researcher on the project. “This suggests that targeting ezrin could be a promising strategy to overcome treatment resistance.”
The research, conducted across multiple CNRS laboratories, utilized advanced imaging techniques and molecular biology tools to unravel the complex interplay between ezrin, the actin cytoskeleton, and drug resistance. Further studies are now underway to translate these findings into potential clinical applications, including the development of ezrin-targeted therapies. The team anticipates that this discovery will spur further investigation into the role of cytoskeletal dynamics in cancer progression and treatment response.
