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.

Discovery of new gene that causes cancer

Researchers at the OU Cancer Institute have identified a new gene that causes cancer. The ground-breaking research appears in Nature's cancer journal Oncogene.

8 May 2008

Mechanism discovered that can send cells on the road to cancer

Using a common virus as a tool for investigating abnormal cell proliferation, a team led by scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has succeeded in clarifying an intricate series of biochemical steps that shed light on a way that cancer can begin.

22 Apr 2008

Discovery of method for clamping down on a cancer-promoting enzyme

There are many pathways that allow an errant gene to turn a cell cancerous, and a number of these pathways go through a single enzyme called the p21-activated kinase 1, or PAK1.

18 Apr 2008

Research improves understanding of acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered evidence that a series of genetic mutations work together to initiate most cases of an aggressive and often-fatal form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

15 Apr 2008

Discovery of small molecule that disrupts Ewing's sarcoma oncogene

Researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center have found a small molecule they say can block the action of the oncogene that causes Ewing's sarcoma, a rare cancer found in children and young adults.

13 Apr 2008

Biomarkers allow doctors to match therapy to patient

Genetic variations ensure that no two people are exactly alike, nor are their cancers.

13 Apr 2008

microRNA shown to reduce lung cancer growth

A small RNA molecule, known as let-7 microRNA (miRNA), substantially reduced cancer growth in multiple mouse models of lung cancer, according to work by researchers at Yale University and Asuragen, Inc., published in the journal Cell Cycle.

24 Mar 2008

Inverted DNA turns quiet developmental gene into a potent driver of t-cell lymphoma

A gene crucial for embryonic development can quickly become a potent cancer promoter in adult mice after a genetic misalignment, according to researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center, causing white blood cells to become cancerous spontaneously.

28 Feb 2008

Natural secretion marks difference between mole and melanoma

A protein naturally produced and secreted by the body can make the difference between your average mole and melanoma, which killed more than 8,000 people in the United States last year, reveals a new study in the February 8 issue of the journal Cell, a publication of Cell Press.

8 Feb 2008

Scientists focus on Epstein-Barr virus

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a human-pathogenic virus which belongs to the herpes virus family.

18 Jan 2008

Down syndrome points to a new way of repressing cancer growth

Researchers at Johns Hopkins and Ohio State University have found that the number of copies of a particular gene can affect the severity of colon cancer in a mouse model. Publishing in the Jan. 3 issue of Nature, the research team describes how trisomy 21, or Down syndrome in humans, can repress tumor growth.

4 Jan 2008

MicroRNA regulates cancer stem cells

One of the biggest stories in cancer research over the past few years has been, unexpectedly, stem cells.

14 Dec 2007

Bortezomib pushes cancer cells into overdrive, so that they self-destruct

University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers have discovered that bortezomib, a promising cancer drug, is able to strike a blow against melanoma tumor cells by revving up the action of a cancer-promoting gene.

21 Nov 2007

GPRC5A gene found to be a tumor-suppressor for lung cancer

The GPRC5A gene, which is under-expressed in human lung cancer cells, suppresses lung tumors in mouse models and could provide a key to attacking lung cancer in humans, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the Nov. 21 edition of The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

14 Nov 2007

Tumor-suppressor gene for lung cancer identified

14 Nov 2007

New genetic understanding of multiple sclerosis patients response to Copaxone

A group of Israeli scientists from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, the Weizmann Institute of Science, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries have recently identified genes responsible for the positive response of many multiple sclerosis (MS) patients to the drug Copaxone.

11 Oct 2007

New molecular evidence of the role of the hormone prolactin in breast cancer

They have found that prolactin, a pituitary hormone that normally stimulates breast development and milk production, initiates a new “signaling pathway” that may regulate the growth and survival of breast cancer cells.

29 Sep 2007

DNA damage response confers a barrier for viral tumorigenesis

Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) is a human tumor virus and an etiological agent for Kaposi's sarcoma (KS).

27 Sep 2007

Defining biomarkers for better colon cancer treatment

Barcelona, Spain: New research has yielded a clearer picture of which biomarkers could help doctors more precisely target the treatment of colon cancer, bringing closer the day when patients who will not benefit from chemotherapy are spared it, while those that will, get the more aggressive treatment they need.

27 Sep 2007

Transposons could make for safer gene delivery system

To move a gene from point A to point B, scientists and gene therapists have two proven options: a virus, which can effectively ferry genes of interest into cells, and a plasmid, an engineered loop of DNA that can do the same thing, albeit usually only on a short-term basis.

27 Sep 2007