Discovery of a mechanism that re-activates a gene triggering cancer cell death

A major discovery was made by a research study funded by Fondazione Cariplo and Italy’s Cancer Research Organization (AIRC), recently published in the prestigious international journal Nature Medicine.  The discovery was made by the team led by Giovanni Tonon, Professor, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, and Head of Cancer Functional Genomics, San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy, together with Kenneth C. Anderson, Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.

Professor Tonon’s team identified a mechanism that allows blood cancer cells to overcome the obstacles to their growth leading to leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. The research team discovered that cancer cells - whose tumultuous growth causing  DNA damage would normally trigger cell death - can proliferate undisturbed because a sentinel gene that recognizes them and triggers their death is turned off.

They identified the protein responsible for turning off said gene and found that by inactivating the protein   the sentinel gene returns to trigger cancer cell death.

"The findings of our research pave the way for the development of treatments targeting this Achilles’ heel of cancer to induce blood cancer cell death” said Giovanni Tonon.

This is a breakthrough of great importance for the development of future cancer treatments. The discovery was the fruit of the work of the entire research team and in particular the talent and dedication of Francesca Cottini, physician scientist, San Raffaele and Harvard Medical School, and first author of the study .