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Winter 2015 : One gene leads to another

One gene leads to another

Findings point to power behind master cancer gene

BY Ron Gilmore

Mong-Hong Lee, Ph.D.

An MD Anderson study led by Mong-Hong Lee, Ph.D., professor in Molecular and Cellular Oncology, has demonstrated the significance of a protein complex CSN6 in regulating the master cancer gene Myc, which spurs tumor growth in breast, lung, colon, brain, skin, prostate, pancreas, stomach and bladder cancers and leukemia. The study results are published in the journal Nature Communications.

Until now, no effective inhibitor for Myc has been successfully developed despite decades of research. Lee’s team found that inhibiting CSN6 quickly destabilizes Myc, greatly impairing spread and tumor growth.

“We’ve discovered that CSN6 is a strong oncogene that’s frequently overexpressed and significantly speeds up tumor growth in many types of cancer,” says Lee. “This has the potential to unlock a promising and completely new door to effectively eliminating tumors and suppressing cancers that overexpress Myc.”

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Fidelity Foundation and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

"This has the potential to unlock a promising and completely new door to effectively eliminating tumors and suppressing cancers that overexpress Myc."

Mong-Hong Lee, Ph.D.

professor, Molecular and Cellular Oncology

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