Cancer by chance? Do not bet against yourself
The Huffington Post publishes an extensive report on cancer-causing mutations, with a special focus on random DNA errors that occur when self-renewing cells divide, according to a recent paper published in Science by researchers at Johns Hopkins University.
The report includes declarations of several experts on cancer studies, among them IRB Barcelona research associates Elena Sancho, in the Colorectal Cancer Lab, and Gloria Pascual, in the Stem Cells and Cancer Lab. "Does this means that we can do as we please because whatever we do, we'll have the same probability of having cancer? The answer is a resounding no", stresses Elena Sancho.
Link to The Huffington Post
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To mark World Cancer Day, the programme El Matí de Barcelona Betevé broadcasted by Radio Barcelona has interviewed Roger Gomis, ICREA Researcher and head of the Growth Control and Metastasis Lab at IRB Barcelona. During the interview, he talked about metastasis, the process by which a tumour spreads to the rest of the body, allowing cancer cells to adapt to new environments “What we are focusing on in our lab is precisely how this cell adaptation and plasticity comes about,” says Gomis.
The “Preguntas Big Van” section of the newspaper La Vanguardia interviewed Eduard Batlle, ICREA researcher and head of the Colorectal Cancer Lab at IRB Barcelona, about his collaboration with the Centro de Análisis Genómico regarding the study of colorectal tumour samples using the new unicellular analysis method. “This technique allows us to see what is happening inside the tumour at a level of detail that was unimaginable 5 years ago,” says Batlle.
Published in the journal Nature Cancer, the study analyses how genetic alterations in tumour cells prevent the correct degradation of the proteins involved in tumour development and growth, thereby leading to abnormal cell behaviour.
A machine-learning model has allowed the scientists to obtain the most extensive annotation of the ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation system.
The analysis proposes a potential new clinical approach for cancer through the inhibition of oncoproteins with impaired degradation systems.
