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Being overweight is associated with decreased risk of breast cancer before menopause and increased risk after menopause. In a study published recently in PLOS Medicine, Wei Zheng, Ph.D., M.D., and colleagues investigate these contrasting associations. They use data from 145,056 women, and a list of genetic variants found in genomic studies to be associated with […]

Acute and chronic B cell leukemia can promote T cell “exhaustion,” which contributes to increased susceptibility to infection and mortality. The treatment-independent mechanisms by which leukemia promotes T cell dysfunction are poorly understood, however. Since metabolic pathways must be tightly regulated to allow normal T cell proliferation and function, Jeffrey Rathmell, Ph.D., Peter Siska, M.D., […]

Neuroblastoma is a neural crest cell-derived extracranial solid cancer that affects infants and young children. The most vigorous of these cancers spreads through self-renewing cancer stem cells. Knowing the nature of these cells is essential to understanding the progression of neuroblastoma and devising the right treatment strategy. Reporting in the journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research […]

Approximately 20 percent of breast cancers have overexpression of the protein HER2, which drives signaling by the protein kinase Akt and is a marker of aggressive disease. The protein complex Rictor/mTORC2 is a known activator of Akt, but its role in breast cancer formation, progression and treatment is unclear. Rebecca Cook, Ph.D., and colleagues have […]

Chicken Salad Chick Foundation founding board members Stacy Brown and Betty and Earlon McWhorter presented a $200,000 check to Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) to support cancer research. Among other initiatives, the Chicken Salad Chick Foundation was proud to host Music and Miracles Superfest, the first major stadium concert in Jordan-Hare’s 75-year history, held on April […]

The Robert J. Kleberg Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation has awarded a $3 million grant to Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) investigators in support of VICC’s drug discovery program. The gift awarded over the next three years from the private, San Antonio, Texas-based foundation will enable VICC researchers to pursue the development of new compounds […]

Many genes are associated with cancer. The trick is proving they actually promote tumor formation. One approach, detailed by Ian Macara, Ph.D., and colleagues last month in Cell Reports, is an in vivo “gain-of-function” screen. The researchers used a gene “library” (complementary DNA carried by lentivirus) to increase the expression of nearly 1000 different genes […]

A cancer research consortium headed by investigators at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center (VICC) and two other institutions, today received $12 million in federal funding to help determine why African-American women die at a higher rate and have more aggressive breast cancer than white women.  The grant, which was awarded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part […]

Vanderbilt University has been selected as one of seven Dedicated Centers in the nation for the next phase of the Chemical Biology Consortium (CBC), a national network of scientists on the leading edge of cancer drug discovery. Vanderbilt has been part of the CBC since the consortium was established in 2009 as the discovery engine […]

Malignant tumors are increasingly subject to routine clinical genotyping, primarily to predict drug response or assist with prognosis. A team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has developed and tested software that scans electronic health records in real time to monitor cancer patient survival (from time of diagnosis) according to which genes, if any, are […]