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AACR grantee demonstrates the potential of PARP inhibitors in splicing factor-mutant leukemias

AACR grantee demonstrates the potential of PARP inhibitors in splicing factor-mutant leukemias

More than half of patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) have a mutation in an RNA splicing factor gene. In particular, mutations in U2AF1 and SRSF2 splicing factor genes are associated with worse overall survival and increased risk of transformation of MDS to secondary acute myelogenous leukemia. The team led by Hai Dang Nguyen, PhD, recipient of a 2022 AACR Career Development Award to Further Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Cancer Research, demonstrated the therapeutic potential of PARP inhibitors in U2AF1- and SRSF2- mutant leukemias.

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AACR Grantee Uncovers a Mechanosensitive Hormone Signaling Pathway Promoting Breast Cancer Risk

AACR Grantee Uncovers a Mechanosensitive Hormone Signaling Pathway Promoting Breast Cancer Risk

Jason Northey, PhD, recipient of the 2015 AACR Basic Cancer Research Fellowship and 2017 AACR-Janssen Fellowship in Cancer Interception Research, and his colleagues uncovered how a stiff extracellular matrix, such as that observed in high mammographic density breast tissue, promotes ERK activity, progesterone receptor-dependent RANK signaling, and increased stemness, pointing to a potential benefit of RANK signaling inhibition as an anti-cancer treatment and prevention strategy.

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AACR Grantee Challenges a Long-Standing Belief to Uncover a Unique Population of Precancerous Cells Involved in Gastric Cancer 

AACR Grantee Challenges a Long-Standing Belief to Uncover a Unique Population of Precancerous Cells Involved in Gastric Cancer 

Valerie O’Brien, PhD, recipient of the 2018 Debbie’s Dream Foundation-AACR Gastric Cancer Research Fellowship, in memory of Sally Mandel, and her colleagues discovered a precancerous gastric epithelium cell type whose expansion is driven by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (Hp), a bacterium that colonizes the stomach of half the world’s population.

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Impacting Community through Community: AACR-Genentech Cancer Disparities Fellow Provides a Window into Latino Smokers’ Perceptions on Physical Activity and the Importance of Community Engagement

Impacting Community through Community: AACR-Genentech Cancer Disparities Fellow Provides a Window into Latino Smokers’ Perceptions on Physical Activity and the Importance of Community Engagement

A growing share of US adult smokers – Hispanic/Latino adults – have been found to be less likely to receive advice to quit and use proven cessation treatments than non-Hispanic white adults. 2021 AACR-Genentech Cancer Disparities Fellow Francisco Cartujano, MD, seeks to address tobacco-related disparities in Latinos by promoting smoking cessation and physical activity using a mobile intervention.

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AACR-Bayer Innovation and Discovery Grantee Designs an MDM2-Targeted PROTAC to Treat Triple Negative Breast Cancer

AACR-Bayer Innovation and Discovery Grantee Designs an MDM2-Targeted PROTAC to Treat Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive cancer with high rates of p53 inactivation and lower survival rates than other breast cancer types due to increased metastasis and relapse (1). Owing to the frequent inactivation of p53, compounds that inhibit p53 from binding to its negative regulator, MDM2, are ineffective in TNBC. In a recent study published in Cancer Discovery, Dr. Eischen and her colleagues used an MDM2-targeted PROteolysis TArgeting Chimera (PROTAC) to reveal the requirement for MDM2 in p53 inactivated TNBC and identify a new therapeutic target for the disease.

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AACR-Novocure grantee elucidates the impact of Tumor Treating Fields on the blood-brain barrier

AACR-Novocure grantee elucidates the impact of Tumor Treating Fields on the blood-brain barrier

Treatment options for brain cancers, including aggressive glioblastoma, are limited despite the availability of several chemotherapeutic drugs due to the inability of these drugs to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). AACR-Novocure grantee Dr. Carsten Hagemann and his team showed that the use of low-intensity alternating electric fields known as Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields), an FDA-approved treatment modality, can facilitate drugs crossing the BBB. Using multiple models, they elucidated the mechanisms driving this action.

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