New Cancer Test May Identify Who Won't Respond to Chemotherapy: Study Suggests

A new study, published in Nature Genetics, introduced biomarkers that can predict resistance to widely used chemotherapy drugs, potentially benefiting hundreds of thousands of cancer patients annually.

Researchers developed a genomic test that identifies patients unlikely to respond to platinum-, taxane-, or anthracycline-based chemotherapies.

The method relies on identifying biomarkers linked to chromosomal instability—genetic changes in tumor cells caused by abnormal chromosome numbers. These variations form distinctive patterns unique to each tumor. The study demonstrated how these patterns can predict treatment resistance before chemotherapy begins.

To validate the approach, researchers analyzed data from 840 cancer patients—including breast, prostate, ovarian, and sarcoma cases—who had already undergone chemotherapy.

“Taking a biomarker from the discovery phase to the clinic is rarely easy,” explained Geoff Macintyre, head of CNIO’s Computational Oncology Group. “But with persistence and collaboration, it’s possible to turn a research project into a truly promising technology.”

Reference: Thompson, J.S., Madrid, L., Hernando, B. et al. Predicting resistance to chemotherapy using chromosomal instability signatures. Nat Genet (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-025-02233-y