The overall goals of the Molecular Oncology & Biomarkers program are to understand the fundamental cellular and molecular processes that contribute to cancer development and progression.
Normal cells have intricate molecular mechanisms that control essential phenotypes such as differentiation, cell division and movement. The molecular pathways that control these phenotypes are disrupted in cancer cells as a result of the expression of oncogenes and loss of regulatory tumor suppressor genes. These events, which are often highly specific to individual types of cancer, disrupt specific molecular pathways that result in uncontrolled cell growth and loss of normal responses to extracellular signaling cues that result in tumor development and progression.
The research interests of the program can be divided into three broad themes:
Collectively these themes address important topics of tumor cell and molecular biology including
John K. Cowell PhD, DSc, FRCPath
A group of scientists at the Georgia Cancer Center of Augusta University recently reported that CAR T cells can stay active longer and mediate tumor killing more effectively when STAT5, a key signaling molecule, is kept in an active form within CAR T cells.
Aggressive colorectal cancers set up an interactive network of checkpoints to keep the immune system at bay, scientists report.
In the early part of the last century, blood transfusions occurred directly from the donor to patient. Virgil Sydenstricker found a better way, and it's still in use today.
There appears to be an unhealthy synergy between mental illness and prostate cancer, and researchers are working to dissect the relationship by first assembling the largest dataset ever of veterans with either condition or both.
