| YAP
Gene - A Cancer Cell Growth Controlling
Pathway Has Effects in Various Cancers
In early August 2006, physician-scientists at the Cancer Center and Harvard
Medical School, led by Cancer Center researcher Nabeel
Bardeesy, PhD, discovered
a new cancer-promoting role for a gene that is possibly linked with breast,
liver, and other kinds of cancer. These physician-scientists believe the
gene, YAP, can transform mammary epithelial cells and open the door to understanding
how a novel cell growth controlling pathway, first discovered in fruit flies,
might be important in human cancers.
“The identification of these new potentially cancer-causing genes is
critical to uncovering novel pathways that drive the conversion of a normal
cell to a cancerous one,” said Cancer Center Director Daniel Haber,
MD, PhD.
Read about this study in Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences.
Cancer
Genetics Research
Researchers from the
Center for Cancer Risk Analysis have
recently discovered a family with a new
alteration (mutation) in a gene known
as CDKN2A (or p16). This mutation increases
the hereditary risk of melanoma and possibly
other cancers. Of interest, this family also
carries an increased rate of breast cancer,
possibly supporting a link between melanoma
and breast cancer. Read more about melanoma
genetics program.
To read the medical journal articles:
- Yang G, Niendorf KB, Tsao H. A Novel Methionine-53-Valine Mutation of
p16 in a Hereditary Melanoma Kindred. Journal of Investigative Dermatology. 123:574-575.
2004. Download the pdf (82
kb)
- Goggins, W, Gao W. and Tsao H. Association between female breast cancer
and cutaneous melanoma. International Journal of Cancer. 111:792-794.
2004.
Download the pdf (62kb)
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