Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

An uncommon mutation of the BRAF gene in melanoma patients has been found to respond to MEK inhibitor drugs, providing a rationale for routine screening and therapy in melanoma patients who harbor the BRAF L597 mutation. The new study by co-first-authors Kimberly Brown Dahlman, Ph.D., Junfeng Xia, Ph.D., and Katherine Hutchinson, B.S., Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center [...]

Mitochondria – cellular structures known as the “power plants” of the cell – are inherited exclusively from the mother. These organelles contain their own DNA (mtDNA), which is highly vulnerable to damage by environmental insults – for example radiation exposure to the ovaries during treatment for childhood cancer. Because such damage could be passed on [...]

Next generation sequencing (NGS) has dramatically accelerated the discovery of disease-associated genetic variants. Also known as massively parallel sequencing, this technological tour de force can rapidly “read” a sequence of DNA bases (the “letters” in our genomes) in parallel, making genome sequencing feasible in the research lab. Vanderbilt researchers have developed a “catalog” of human [...]

Identifying the cellular origins of medulloblastoma – the most common malignant brain tumor in children – may help focus treatment on cell types responsible for tumor initiation. Previous research has linked Sonic hedgehog signaling in neuronal cell precursors within the developing cerebellum to medulloblastoma. Now, Chin Chiang, Ph.D., and colleagues demonstrate that “turning on” Sonic [...]

A study led by Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center investigators has identified a gene expression pattern that may explain why chemotherapy prior to surgery isn’t effective against some tumors and suggests new therapy options for patients with specific subtypes of breast cancer. The study by lead author Justin Balko, Pharm.D., Ph.D., was published online June 10, 2012 [...]

The Translational Pathology Shared Resource (TPSR) has opened an expanded laboratory on the first floor of Medical Center North, room S-1310. To celebrate the grand opening of the newly renovated space, TPSR is hosting an open house on Wednesday, May 30, from 1-3 p.m. Vanderbilt faculty and staff are invited to tour the new space, [...]

Therapies targeted to a specific mutation in the BRAF gene can significantly reduce tumor burden in metastatic melanoma. But these therapies are not suitable for melanomas lacking the mutation, and even tumors carrying the BRAF mutation eventually become resistant to those therapies. Using human melanoma tumors implanted into mice, Ann Richmond, Ph.D., and colleagues assessed [...]

The symptoms of head and neck cancer can be subtle, so to help catch the disease in its earliest stages the Tennessee Chapter of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center for Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences, Meharry Medical College and the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System will offer [...]

Diseases that are treatable in developed nations are often lethal in developing countries. For Wilms’ tumor, the most common childhood kidney cancer, survival rates in developed countries exceed 90 percent – but in developing nations, survival can be as low as 35 percent. Lack of adequate health care resources is largely responsible for this survival [...]

Pelayo Correa, M.D., professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunulogy, has been recognized by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and its Minorities in Cancer Research membership group with the Jane Cooke Wright Lectureship. Correa holds the Anne Potter Wilson chair in cancer research in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition. The AACR-MICR-Jane Cooke [...]