News

New Discoveries March 11, 2013

Jean Y. Tang, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator ‘11-‘14) of Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, and colleagues, reported that women who take aspirin regularly have a reduced risk of developing melanoma. Overall the risk is reduced by over 20 percent. The findings, based on a study of nearly 60,000 women aged 50 to 79, suggest the anti-inflammatory effects of aspirin may help protect against this type of skin cancer. The study was published in the journal Cancer.

New Discoveries February 14, 2013

Evolution of genetic mutations in leukemia cells

Catherine J. Wu, MD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator ‘07-‘12), Matthew L. Meyerson, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘95-‘98), and colleagues at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, and the Broad Institute, Cambridge, demonstrated how genetic mutations evolve over time in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells. The researchers used next-generation gene-sequencing technology to monitor genetic changes in tissue samples from cancer patients, demonstrating that subsets of cells in each tumor contain different genetic makeup.

New Discoveries February 3, 2013

Protecting stem cells from radiation damage

David G. Kirsch, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ‘08-‘10), and colleagues at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, reported that epidermal growth factor (EGF) speeds the recovery of blood-making hematopoietic stem cells after exposure to radiation. Mice with high levels of EGF were protected from radiation damage. EGF may be able to accelerate the recovery of the blood system in cancer patients treated with chemotherapy or radiation. The study was published in the journal Nature Medicine.

New Discoveries December 17, 2012

Damon Runyon Scientist named to Forbes Magazine “30 Under 30” list

Adam de la Zerda, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘11-‘12) of Stanford University, Stanford, was named to the Forbes Magazine “30 Under 30” list in Science and Healthcare for 2012. Adam is applying nanotechnology and novel medical imaging to look inside tumors and gather information on cellular changes that drive cancer progression. Those on this list “represent the entrepreneurial, creative and intellectual best of their generation.”

New Discoveries December 14, 2012

New targeted therapy effective in treating resistant leukemias

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New Discoveries November 29, 2012

Understanding the mechanism of metastasis

Jing Yang, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘00-‘03) and colleagues at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, demonstrated how cancer cells control a developmental process known as epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) to metastasize, breaking free and spreading to other parts of the body, where they proliferate and grow into secondary tumors.

New Discoveries October 2, 2012

2012 MacArthur Fellows named

Sarkis K. Mazmanian, PhD (Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovator ‘08-‘10) of California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, was named one of 23 MacArthur Fellows for 2012. He is recognized for his innovative research elucidating the critical role of bacterial microbes in human health, which could lead to new therapies or preventive treatments for a variety of human diseases including cancer.

New Discoveries September 5, 2012

ENCODE project results: Encyclopedia of DNA Elements

Mark B. Gerstein, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘94-‘96) of Yale University, New Haven, and colleagues, announced the exciting results of the ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) project. As reported in 30 publications in Nature and other journals, the consortium assigned a biochemical function to over 80% of the human genome—sequences that had previously been thought to be “junk DNA.” ENCODE was featured in The New York Times and selected as one of the “Runners-Up” for Science magazine’s 2012 Breakthrough of the Year.

New Discoveries August 23, 2012

GlcNAc protein modification linked to cancer growth

Linda Hsieh-Wilson, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘97-‘00), of California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, reported that tumor cells modify their proteins through addition of carbohydrate (glycosylation or GlcNAc) in response to their surroundings, which allows the cancer cells to survive. When the researchers blocked the addition of GlcNAc to phosphofructokinase 1 (PFK1), a protein involved in cell metabolism, cancer cell proliferation and tumor formation were reduced in mice.

New Discoveries August 9, 2012

Ewing sarcoma genome analysis completed

Joshua D. Schiffman, MD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator ‘11-‘14) of University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and colleagues, reported results of a genomic study of Ewing sarcoma (ES), the second most common bone tumor in children and young adults. By examining 40 primary tumors and 12 metastatic lesions, the researchers identified genetic factors predictive of overall survival as well as a particular gene deletion (RELN gene) that is unique to metastatic lesions. These findings will be useful for development of more effective, personalized treatment regimens.

Damon Runyon News