A troubling inheritance
April 9, 2019
Researchers have found that certain epigenetic changes in mice that appear to be inherited by offspring can lead to increased cancer rates
Tag: Cancer
Sharpening the edges of cancer chemotherapy
July 11, 2018
Whitehead team deploys CRISPR tools to better understand and uncover ways of improving methotrexate, a popular chemotherapy drug.
Study suggests perioperative NSAIDs may prevent early metastatic relapse in post-surgical breast cancer patients
April 11, 2018
Mouse study links early metastasis to systemic inflammation caused by wound healing
Stuck on the membrane: A pro-metastatic transcription factor’s journey from anonymity to a promising target for breast cancer therapy
October 20, 2017
Whitehead Member Piyush Gupta has identified a protein stuck in the cell membrane that plays an important role in a cellular pathway crucial for cancer metastasis. The protein is a potential new target for breast cancer therapy that targets the cancer cells' metastatic behavior.
Biomarker identified for likely aggressive, early stage breast cancer
April 3, 2017
Whitehead Institute scientists have identified a gene that could help clinicians discern which patients have aggressive forms of early stage breast cancer, which could prevent hundreds of thousands of women from undergoing unnecessary treatment and save millions of dollars.
Researchers chart global genetic interaction networks in human cancer cells
February 2, 2017
Investigators at Whitehead Institute and the Broad Institute have succeeded in identifying the set of essential genes—those required for cellular proliferation and survival—in each of 14 human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines that had previously been characterized by genome sequencing. By combining their “gene essentiality map” with the existing genomic information, their study revealed liabilities in genetically defined subset of cancers that could be exploited for new therapies.
Naturally occurring mechanism of cancer drug-resistance may itself be a treatment target
December 26, 2016
The use of proteasome inhibitors to treat cancer has been greatly limited by the ability of cancer cells to develop resistance to these drugs. But Whitehead Institute researchers have found a mechanism underlying this resistance--a mechanism that naturally occurs in many diverse cancer types and that may expose vulnerabilities to drugs that spur the natural cell-death process.
Heat shock regulator controlled by on/off switch and phosphorylation
November 10, 2016
Whitehead Institute researchers have determined how the master transcriptional regulator of the heat shock response, known as heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), is controlled in yeast. Understanding how HSF1 works, how it is regulated, and how to fine tune it in a cell-type specific way could lead to therapies for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.
Whitehead’s Rudolf Jaenisch named a Fellow of the AACR Academy
April 5, 2016
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) announced today that Whitehead Institute Founding Member Rudolf Jaenisch is one of 11 newly elected Fellows of the AACR Academy.
There goes the neighborhood: Changes in chromosome structure activate cancer-causing genes
March 3, 2016
In a finding with enormous implications for cancer diagnostics and therapeutics, Whitehead Institute scientists have discovered that breaches in looping chromosomal structures known as “insulated neighborhoods” can activate oncogenes capable of fueling aggressive tumor growth.
High-fat diet linked to intestinal stem cell changes, increased risk for cancer
March 2, 2016
Over the past decade, studies have found that obesity and eating a high-fat, high-calorie diet are significant risk factors for many types of cancer. Now, a new study from Whitehead Institute and MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research reveals how a high-fat diet makes the cells of the intestinal lining more likely to become cancerous.
Engineered hydrogel scaffolds enable growth of functioning human breast tissue
March 1, 2016
Whitehead Institute researchers have created a hydrogel scaffold that replicates the environment found within the human breast. The scaffold supports the growth of human mammary tissue from patient-derived cells and can be used to study normal breast development as well as breast cancer initiation and progression.