Oncogene News and Research

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An oncogene is a gene that, when mutated or expressed at high levels, helps turn a normal cell into a tumor cell.

New treatment shows promise against hard-to-treat eye cancer

Eye cancer took the life of author and neurologist Oliver Sacks last year, bringing attention to the rare and deadly disease. Scientists have tried to develop precision treatments against cancers like this one, but the mutations that cause them have proven difficult to block with drugs.

3 Jun 2016

First large-scale proteogenomic study helps pinpoint genes that drive breast cancer

Building on data from The Cancer Genome Atlas project, a multi-institutional team of scientists has completed the first large-scale "proteogenomic" study of breast cancer, linking DNA mutations to protein signaling and helping pinpoint the genes that drive cancer.

26 May 2016

Loss of HOXA5 protein may allow breast cancer cells to thrive

Many breast cancers are marked by a lack of HOXA5 protein, a gene product known to control cell differentiation and death, and lower levels of the protein correspond to poorer outcomes for patients.

20 May 2016

Inhibiting autophagy can effectively block tumor cell migration, breast cancer metastasis

Researchers from the University of Chicago have shown that inhibiting autophagy, a self-devouring process used by cells to degrade large intra-cellular cargo, effectively blocks tumor cell migration and breast cancer metastasis in tumor models.

13 May 2016

Novel animal model helps understand mechanisms that lead to multiple myeloma

Researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have developed an animal model that allows them to better understand the mechanisms that lead to the development of multiple myeloma, a hematologic cancer of plasma cells, and the amyloidosis that sometimes accompanies it. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

6 May 2016

Study reveals new cell-signaling pathway that detects chromosome missegregation

A recent research study at The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota is providing insight into the regulation of chromosome segregation and the mechanisms used by cells to prevent them from forming tumors.

4 May 2016

Controlling cholesterol metabolism could help reduce pancreatic cancer spread

Researchers have shown how controlling cholesterol metabolism in pancreatic cancer cells reduces metastasis, pointing to a potential new treatment using drugs previously developed for atherosclerosis.

4 May 2016

Novel function of PLK1 gene in prostate cancer metastasis

Researchers at VCU Massey Cancer Center have uncovered a novel function of the gene PLK1 (polo-like kinase 1) that helps prostate cancer cells metastasize (spread) to other parts of the body. This mechanism highlights new potential targets for cancer therapies and challenges the previous understanding of PLK1's role in cancer growth and progression.

22 Apr 2016

High levels of COMP protein may lead to worse breast cancer prognosis

Research from Lund University in Sweden shows that the protein COMP, which mainly exists in cartilage, can also be found in breast cancer tumours in patients with a poor prognosis. Studies on mice also showed that COMP contributed to the development and metastasis of the breast cancer.

13 Apr 2016

Novel metabolic pathways help cancer cells thrive under certain conditions

Scientists at the Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) have identified a novel metabolic pathway that helps cancer cells thrive in conditions that are lethal to normal cells.

7 Apr 2016

MicroRNA controls tumor cell proliferation in most aggressive large B-cell lymphoma

A recent study by researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine showed that a microRNA called miR-181a dampens signals from the cancer-driving NFκB protein pathway in the most aggressive large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL). By reducing NFκB signaling, miR-181a controls tumor cell proliferation and survival and could be the target of novel therapies. The study was published in the journal Blood.

2 Apr 2016

Combination drug therapy may stop KRAS-mediated lung adenocarcinoma

Researchers on Mayo Clinic's Florida campus have shut down one of the most common and lethal forms of lung cancer by combining the rheumatoid arthritis drug auranofin with an experimental targeted agent.

15 Mar 2016

New discoveries reveal why smokers have increased risk of type 2 diabetes

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have made two new discoveries with regard to the beta cells' ability to release insulin. The findings can also provide a possible explanation as to why smokers have an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

9 Mar 2016

New screening technique to test drug compounds used in Ewing sarcoma treatment

In Ewing sarcoma, cancer cells' DNA is unwound abnormally from a condensed, compact state. Once sections of genetic code are open, key genes are turned on to help direct aggressive and cancerous cell growth.

1 Mar 2016

Hiroshima University researchers identify new class of cancer-causing genetic variations

Researchers at Hiroshima University have opened the door to finding a new class of cancer-causing genetic variations.

23 Feb 2016

Researchers discover factor that controls embryonic stem cell development

After a gestation period of around ten months, fawns are born in early summer - when the weather is warm and food is plentiful for the mother. Six months would actually be enough for the embryo's development, but then offspring from mating in the later portion of summer would be born in winter.

17 Feb 2016

New research identifies key enzyme linked to age-related increases in cancer and inflammation

For the first time, researchers have shown that an enzyme key to regulating gene expression -- and also an oncogene when mutated -- is critical for the expression of numerous inflammatory compounds that have been implicated in age-related increases in cancer and tissue degeneration, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

4 Feb 2016

Researchers identify definitive genetic defect in angiocentric gliomas

Diagnosis and treatment decisions for a recently recognized type of children's brain tumor should be improved by the discovery of the genetic mechanism that causes it, say researchers who identified the unusual DNA abnormality in angiocentric gliomas.

2 Feb 2016

FedMed gains access to Trovagene's Precision Cancer Monitoring tests and service

Trovagene, Inc., a developer of cell-free molecular diagnostics, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with FedMed, Inc. establishing health benefit access to Trovagene's full line of Precision Cancer Monitoring (PCM) tests and services.

1 Feb 2016

Sphingosine kinase inhibitor slows castration-resistant prostate cancer cell growth

A first-in-class sphingosine kinase 2 inhibitor slowed the growth of castration-resistant prostate cancer cells, in part by inhibiting the enzyme dihydroceramide desaturase (DEGS), but did not kill them, according to the results of preclinical in vitro and in vivo studies published in the December 2015 issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics by researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina and others.

30 Jan 2016