Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

The protein transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) can act as either a tumor suppressor or a tumor promoter depending on the stage of cancer. Loss of TGF-β’s tumor suppressor activity may play an important role in lung cancer progression. Pran Datta, Ph.D., and colleagues previously showed that this loss of responsiveness to TGF-β occurs mainly [...]

Watch video of Dr. Michael Neuss speaking about cancer. Neuss spoke Feb. 1 as part of the Osher Lifelong Learning class, “Medical Advances.” The course is presented by faculty of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and focuses on what the future of medicine holds. Physicians are now able to use a patient’s DNA to select the [...]

The size of a man’s prostate gland may help predict the severity of cancer, with a smaller prostate being more likely to harbor serious disease. This finding by a group of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center researchers was published in the December issue of the Journal of Urology. Fourth-year medical resident Judson Davies, M.D., was first author [...]

Individuals who are outside the “normal” range of expression for the APC gene have an increased risk of colorectal cancer, according to a study published in the January issue of Gastroenterology. Mutations in the APC (adenomatous polyposis coli) gene – and variations in the expression of the gene’s two copies (allele-specific expression) — are associated [...]

Investigators at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center and several other centers may be one step closer to finding out why some melanoma patients relapse after treatment with a promising new drug. Approximately half of all patients with the most deadly form of skin cancer have a mutation in the BRAF gene in their tumors that drives the [...]

Mary Carroll, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow in Biochemistry, was recently named one of 18 Damon Runyon Fellows by the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. The three-year, $156,000 award provides independent funding for outstanding postdoctoral scientists to pursue innovative projects. Carroll is the first postdoctoral fellow from Vanderbilt to receive this award. “I am honored [...]

Endometrial cancer, or cancer of the uterine lining, is the most common gynecological malignancy. Obesity – defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher – is a well-established risk factor for endometrial cancer, with obese women having a 4- to 6-times higher risk of the malignancy than nonobese women. Ryan Delahanty, Ph.D., [...]

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center physician-scientists who created the new online medical decision support tool called “My Cancer Genome” have been named winners of a $20,000 health care technology award sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. The contest, “Using Public Data for Cancer Prevention and Control: From Innovation to Impact Developer Challenge,” was presented as part of [...]

A large, retrospective study of the children of childhood cancer survivors who were treated with radiation therapy and/or some forms of chemotherapy found that the offspring do not have an increased risk for birth defects compared to children of cancer survivors who did not receive these treatments. The findings provide reassurance that increased risks of [...]

In the 40 years since President Nixon “declared war” on cancer, much progress has been made. We are screening more, catching cancers sooner, using DNA information to tailor treatment to the individual. Still, cancer is responsible for one in four deaths in the United States.