News & Comment

BMI1, a gene expressed in stem cells, is involved in EMT and is a target of the transcription factor TWIST1.

PARK2, which causes autosomal recessive juvenile Parkinson's disease, is shown to be a haploinsufficient suppressor of colorectal cancer, and the loss of this gene synergises with the loss ofAPC.

miR-21 and miR-181b-1 are shown to be induced by STAT3 in an inflammatory feedback loop that mediates SRC-induced transformation.

The adenoviral protein E4-ORF3 silences p53 target genes by inducing heterochromatin formation at their promoters.

A new study identifies several pathways by which a compound derived from a Chinese medicine reduces gastrointestinal toxicity that is induced by chemotherapy.

Infection withSalmonella typhimuriumcan promote tumour antigen cross-presentation by dendritic cells. This effect is mediated by upregulation of connexin Cx43 expression, which induces the formation of gap junctions between tumour cells and dendritic cells, through which tumour-specific antigens can be transferred.

This article examines the ancient history of cancer. The striking absence of malignancies in ancient physical remains might indicate the rarity of cancer in antiquity, which poses questions about the role of carcinogenic environmental factors in modern societies.

Two papers examine the role of cell competition in tumorigenesis.

Mice that experience an enriched environment are more resistant to tumour growth.

A proteomics-based strategy identifies novel biomarkers for responses of cancer cells to PI3K pathway inhibitors.

A synthetic lethal interaction is found in tumours expressing KRAS-G12 mutants when CDK4 function is lost.

A newin vivomodel reveals that human prostate cancer can originate from epithelial basal cells.

An index of genomic changes in breast cancer might help to more accurately determine prognosis.

Two studies describe different roles for HIF2α in cancer. It can promote tumorigenesis by mediating the infiltration of tumour-associated macrophages or suppress tumour development by increasing transcription of the tumour suppressorSCGB3A1.