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Researchers identify a new gene that is essential for the growth of colon cancer
Researchers at the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai have identified a new gene that is essential for the growth of colorectal cancer and found that inflammation in the tumor's external environment may contribute to the growth of tumor cells. The scientists reported these results in October in Nature Communications. This is the first time that scientists have discovered that the environment of a colon cancer tumor can program a so-called "super-enhancer," a complex region of DNA with a high concentration of transcription machinery that controls whether a cell is malignant. This super-enhancer - the largest 1-2% of all enhancers in the cell - regulates the gene PDZK1IP1, ...
Researchers identify a new gene that is essential for the growth of colon cancer
Researchers at the Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai have identified a new gene that is essential for the growth of colorectal cancer and found that inflammation in the tumor's external environment may contribute to the growth of tumor cells. The scientists reported these results in October in Nature Communications.
This is the first time that scientists have discovered that the environment of a colon cancer tumor can program a so-called "super-enhancer," a complex region of DNA with a high concentration of transcription machinery that controls whether a cell is malignant.
This super-enhancer - the largest 1-2% of all enhancers in the cell - regulates the gene PDZK1IP1, which has not yet been identified as a cancer gene. After the researchers removed PDZK1IP1, colon cancer growth slowed, suggesting that PDZK1IP1 and its super-enhancer could be targets for cancer therapies.
In the United States, colorectal cancer is the third most common and second deadliest type of cancer. Treating this cancer requires surgery, and immunotherapies that have revolutionized the treatment of advanced cancer have only worked in a small subset of colorectal cancer patients. Therefore, there is a great need for novel target identification.”
Royce Zhou, lead author of the study, MD/PhD student, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
This study found that the super-enhancer is activated by surrounding inflammation in the tumor microenvironment. The inflammation allows the cancer cells to survive in an environment where they otherwise would not survive. Inflammatory bowel disease poses a known risk for colorectal cancer; This finding could contribute to understanding the mechanism involved.
"For most patients with colorectal cancer, this means that the inflammation occurring in the tumor contributes to the growth of the tumor. This highlights the importance of understanding what we can do to limit the inflammatory effects in the colon through prevention, or understanding the impact of diet." could have effects on the colonic microenvironment," said senior author Ramon Parsons, MD, PhD, director of the Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "As far as treatment goes, we have genetic evidence that targeting this gene actually inhibits tumors. If we understand all of these different components, we will have better tools to “try to prevent the disease.”
This discovery was made possible by examining living tumor tissue and surrounding healthy tissue immediately after the surgeries of 15 colon cancer patients. The ability to prepare and analyze living cells allowed researchers to detect the tumor microenvironment and the genetic and biological drivers of colorectal cancer, Mr. Zhou said.
“We had live samples of live cells directly from the operating room, which allowed us to immediately measure the epigenetic state of this tumor,” added Dr. Parsons added. “We would not have been able to make this discovery without the infrastructure here at Mount Sinai.”
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