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.

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

JAK genes and cancer

Cancer-causing genes can work in more powerful and sneaky ways than have been realized.

18 Sep 2007

New insight into breast cancer development in high-risk women

Physicians who treat women with the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1 often remove their patients' ovaries to eliminate the source of estrogen they believe fuels cancer growth.

12 Sep 2007

Genetics of imatinib resistance in acute lymphoblastic leukemia

In the September 15th issue of Genes & Development, Drs. Richard T. Williams, Willem den Besten, and Charles J. Sherr at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis TN, lend new insights into how an aggressive form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) develops, and how sensitivity to the targeted chemotherapeutic drug, imatinib, can be diminished through interactions between tumor cells and the host microenvironment.

30 Aug 2007

Breast epithelial cells serve as a barrier against cancer

Sheets of highly organized epithelial cells line all the cavities and free surfaces of the body, forming barriers that control the movement of liquids and cells in the body organs.

28 Aug 2007

New pathway for inflammation-induced cancer

A well-known inflammatory protein spawns an enzyme that inactivates two tumor-suppressing genes, ultimately triggering production of new blood vessels to nourish breast cancer cells, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the August edition of the journal Cell .

11 Aug 2007

New point of attack for future liver cancer treatments

The linking of two signalling pathways in the cells of liver tumours has a clear influence on their malignancy.

1 Aug 2007

Good signal for liver tumour therapy

The linking of two signalling pathways in the cells of liver tumours has a clear influence on their malignancy. Activation of the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) messenger molecule is decisive for this linking.

30 Jul 2007