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.

Exploiting cancer cell 'addiction' may lead to new therapies

A new study uncovers a gene expression signature that reliably identifies cancer cells whose survival is dependent on a common signaling pathway, even when the cells contain multiple other genetic abnormalities.

1 Jun 2009

Protein neuregulin 1 critical to insulating the body's wiring could also become treatment target

A new protein identified as critical to insulating the wiring that connects the brain and body could one day be a treatment target for divergent diseases, from rare ones that lower the pain threshold to cancer, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.

19 May 2009

Discovery of new pathway of tumourigenesis in humans

The first identification of GP130 somatic activating mutations in human tumours was announced today at EASL 2009, the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Liver Disease in Copenhagen, Denmark.

23 Apr 2009

New alternative to biopsy detects subtle changes in cancer cells

A drop of blood or a chunk of tissue smaller than the period at the end of this sentence may one day be all that is necessary to diagnose cancers and assess their response to treatment, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

12 Apr 2009

Biomarker associated with poor outcome in aggressive childhood cancer

Results from a new study identify a biomarker that may be useful for predicting the outcome of treatment for neuroblastoma, the most common cancer in young children.

6 Apr 2009

Researchers develop mouse models of leukemia that predict response to chemotherapy

Being able to accurately predict how a given cancer will respond to chemotherapy would spare patients with non-responsive tumors the burden of undergoing toxic and ultimately unhelpful treatment.

1 Apr 2009

Discovery of new tumor suppressor gene

National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers have identified a gene that suppresses tumor growth in melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

30 Mar 2009

Discovery of major new risk factor for melanoma in young women

Researchers may have found a more potent risk factor for melanoma than blistering sunburns, freckling, or family history of the deadly skin disease.

24 Mar 2009

Step towards new cancer drugs

The gene Myc is an important factor for the growth of organisms by cell division.

20 Mar 2009

A model of melanoma generates hope for the use of targeted therapies

Researchers have developed a new mouse model that allows them to replicate normal pigment cells at the earliest stages of conversion to malignant skin cancer in humans.

12 Mar 2009

Small molecules block cancer gene

Finding molecules that block the activity of the oncogene Stat 3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription) required screening literally millions of compounds, using computers that compared the structure of the cancer-causing gene to those of the small molecules, said a Baylor College of Medicine researcher in a report that appears in the current online issue of the journal PLoS One (Public Library of Science ONE).

11 Mar 2009

Breakthrough method produces Parkinson's disease patient-specific stem cells free of harmful reprogramming genes

Whitehead Institute researchers have developed a novel method to remove potential cancer-causing genes during the reprogramming of skin cells from Parkinson's disease patients into an embryonic-stem-cell-like state.

8 Mar 2009

Breakthrough produces Parkinson's patient-specific stem cells free of harmful reprogramming genes

Deploying a method that removes potentially cancer-causing genes, Whitehead Institute researchers have "reprogrammed" human skin cells from Parkinson's disease patients into an embryonic-stem-cell-like state.

5 Mar 2009

Micro RNA plays a key role in melanoma metastasis

Scientists have long wondered how melanoma cells travel from primary tumors on the surface of the skin to the brain, liver and lungs, where they become more aggressive, resistant to therapy, and deadly.

9 Feb 2009

Researchers find novel use for old compound in cancer treatment

The compound, alpha-difluoromethylornithine or DFMO, targets the activity of a specific enzyme and, even in very limited doses, is effective in protecting against the malignancy in animal models.

19 Jan 2009

New insight into critical molecular mechanisms involved in aggressive childhood cancer

A new study reveals critical molecular mechanisms associated with the development and progression of human neuroblastoma, the most common cancer in young children.

5 Jan 2009

Discovery of new tumor suppressor for lung cancer

Cancer and cell biology experts at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have identified a new tumor suppressor that may help scientists develop more targeted drug therapies to combat lung cancer.

5 Jan 2009

Tracking the molecular pathway to mixed-lineage leukemia

Infants and adults with the blood cancer mixed-lineage leukemia (MLL) typically have a poor prognosis, and most infants die before their first birthdays.

15 Dec 2008

Researchers stop ovarian cancer cell cycle in its tracks

Ovarian cancer cells are "addicted" to a family of proteins produced by the notorious oncogene, MYC, and blocking these Myc proteins halts cell proliferation in the deadliest cancer of the female reproductive system, according to a presentation by University of California, Berkeley scientists at the American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) 48th Annual Meeting, Dec. 13-17, 2008 in San Francisco.

15 Dec 2008