Feinberg
Northwestern Medicine | Northwestern University | Faculty Profiles

News Center

  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
    • Podcast
  • Press Release
  • Media Coverage
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Menu
  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
    • Podcast
  • Press Release
  • Media Coverage
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Home » Stealthy Gene Network Makes Brain Tumors Flourish
Uncategorized

Stealthy Gene Network Makes Brain Tumors Flourish

By medwebJul 15, 2009
Share
Facebook Twitter Email

Stealthy Gene Network Makes Brain Tumors Flourish

Dr. Bredel

The brain tumor afflicting Sen. Edward Kennedy—a glioblastoma—is the most aggressive and wily form of brain cancer. It has foiled researchers’ decades-long efforts to thwart its explosive growth in the brain. The lethal tumor – the most common brain tumor in humans—nimbly alters its genes like a quick-change artist to elude treatments to destroy it.

But scientists from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have discovered the formidable tumor’s soft underbelly. They have identified a network of 31 mutated genes that stealthily work together to create the perfect molecular landscape to allow the tumor to flourish and mushroom to the size of an apple in just a few months.

Northwestern researchers have also identified a new gene, Annexin A7, a vital guard whose job is to halt tumor growth and whose level in the tumor predicts how long a glioblastoma patient will survive. The genetic landscape of glioblastomas eliminates Annexin A7 by wiping out its home base, chromosome 10.

The discoveries help researchers understand the tumor’s vulnerabilities and offer new targets for therapies to treat the disease.

“These 31 genes are the kingpins in what you could call an organized crime network of genes that enable the tumor to grow with breathtaking speed,” said Markus Bredel, M.D., director of the Northwestern Brain Tumor Institute research program, assistant professor of neurological surgery at the Feinberg School and the principal investigator of the two studies reporting these new findings. “These 31 genes are highly connected to and affect hundreds of other genes involved in this process.” Bredel also is a member of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

The studies are published in the July 15 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association.

Full story

Share. Facebook Twitter Email

Related Posts

Lurie Cancer Center Receives Merit Extension from NCI

Oct 20, 2021

Drug Combination May Reduce Risk of Leukemia Relapse

Mar 26, 2020

Rewriting the Role of a Transcription Factor

Mar 19, 2020

Comments are closed.

Latest News

Student Spearheads Ukraine Aid Efforts

Jun 27, 2022

Hospitals Bound to Patient Safety Rules that Aren’t all Backed by Evidence

Jun 24, 2022

Identifying Protein Interactions that Promote Cancer Growth

Jun 24, 2022

Combination Treatment May Improve Quality of Life in Kidney Cancer

Jun 23, 2022

Calcium Channel Blockers May Improve Chemotherapy Response

Jun 21, 2022
  • News Center Home
  • Categories
  • Press Release
  • Media Coverage
  • Editor’s Picks
  • News Archives
  • About Us
Flickr Photos
pride7
pride6
pride5
pride4
pride3
pride2
pride1
20220607_Feinberg Campus_0070
20220607_Feinberg Campus_0066
20220607_Feinberg Campus_0054
Northwestern University 2022. Photo by Jim Prisching
20220607_Feinberg Campus_0077

Northwestern University logo

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

RSS Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Flickr YouTube Instagram
Copyright © 2022 Northwestern University
  • Contact Northwestern University
  • Disclaimer
  • Campus Emergency Information
  • Policy Statements

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.