by University of Washington School of Medicine Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Up to 10% of cancers are caused by genes that can be easily detected by commercially available tests. These include such common cancers as cancer of the breast, ovary, colon, stomach, uterus and pancreas. “We don’t routinely screen for cancer susceptibility genes in primary-care settings because genetic testing is...
Tag: <span>cancer gene</span>
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Surprising ‘two-faced’ cancer gene role supports paradigm shift in predicting disease
by Queen Mary, University of London Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A genetic fault long believed to drive the development of esophageal cancer may in fact play a protective role early in the disease, according to new research published in Nature Cancer. This unexpected discovery could help doctors identify which individuals are at greater risk of developing cancer, potentially leading...
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Study shows how cancer gene tricks immune cells
by Krista Conger, Stanford University MYC regulated St6galnac4 promotes display of the glycan disialyl-T. (A) Murine T-ALL cell surface sialic acids were quantified at various time points after doxycycline administration to turn off expression of the MYC transgene. Sialic acids were detected via oxidation with mild periodate treatment and subsequent labeling with an aminooxy-biotin probe...
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Drug turns cancer gene into ‘eat me’ flag for immune system
by Robin Marks, University of California, San Francisco Microscopy of a lung tumor biopsy. Credit: Lin Ma Tumor cells are notoriously good at evading the human immune system; they put up physical walls, wear disguises and handcuff the immune system with molecular tricks. Now, UC San Francisco researchers have developed a drug that overcomes some...
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Hallmark cancer gene regulates RNA ‘dark matter’
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA – SANTA CRUZ IMAGE: GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT SHOWS THE EFFECTS OF MUTANT KRAS ON A LUNG CELL’S RNA LANDSCAPE. CREDIT: DANIEL H. KIM A key genetic mutation that occurs early on in cancer alters RNA “dark matter” and causes the release of previously unknown RNA biomarkers for cancer early detection, a new study...
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Solving the mystery of a stubborn, and common, cancer gene
by Robin Marks, University of California, San Francisco Microscopic image showing parts of the HER2 receptor touching each other inside the cells (green) and outside the cells (red) in a process called dimerization. The lack of red shows that cells with high levels of HER2 can have a lot of dimerization of their inside halves,...
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New principle for activation of cancer genes discovered
by Karolinska Institutet Researchers have long known that some genes can cause cancer when overactive, but exactly what happens inside the cell nucleus when the cancer grows has so far remained enigmatic. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have found a new mechanism that renders one canonical driver of cancer overactive. The findings, published...