Study identifies epigenetic events critical to cancer cell survival

USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center research that identifies specific genes that have to be turned off in order for cancer cells to survive was named one of the top major advances in cancer research this year by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

The study, "DNA methylation screening identifies driver epigenetic events of cancer cell survival," first appeared in the May 15 issue of Cancer Cell, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. It is one of 87 studies highlighted in Clinical Cancer Advances 2012: ASCO's Annual Report on Progress Against Cancer, available online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology at http://www.jco.org.

The annual report, now in its eighth year, is an independent review of clinical cancer research advances that have the greatest potential to improve patients' survival and quality of life. Compiled and edited under the guidance of 21 renowned experts in specific fields of cancer research, the report describes, in lay language, the most significant advances of the year, offering the public a window into the achievements, trends and challenges in oncology.

The USC study, which appears in the tumor biology section of the report, was led by Peter Jones, Ph.D., D.Sc., distinguished professor of urology, biochemistry and molecular biology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.

"We want to know what makes a cancer cell a cancer cell," said Jones, an epigenetics pioneer who discovered the mechanism behind the drug 5-azacytidine, which is now standard treatment for a pre-leukemia bone-marrow disorder. "This particular study was the first to track down these genes that, when silenced through DNA methylation, allow the cancer cell to avoid normal death."

DNA methylation, or the addition of methyl groups to a gene, can change gene expression without changing the DNA sequence. This epigenetic process is potentially reversible, making the areas where it happens good targets for new treatments to be developed.

"Our findings essentially pave the way for more effective cancer medicine," said the study's first author, Daniel D. De Carvalho, Ph.D., a USC post-doctoral fellow who now leads a lab at the Ontario Cancer Institute at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto. "Our research continues to focus on understanding the epigenetic mechanisms that underlie how tumors are created in order to develop new and more efficient cancer treatments."