Slovak Researcher Studies Cancer Cell Resistance to Improve Treatment Selection

Slovak oncology researcher Lenka Trnková is studying how cancer cells develop resistance to treatment, work that could help doctors select more effective therapies. Approximately 1,000 women die from breast cancer annually in Slovakia, with resistance to treatment contributing to up to 90 percent of these deaths. Cancer cells either develop this resistance over time or have a predisposition to it, forcing doctors to cycle through multiple therapies until available options are exhausted. Trnková's research focuses on understanding these resistance mechanisms to enable more precise drug selection from the outset, potentially improving patient outcomes in a country where breast cancer remains a significant cause of mortality among women.