New Discoveries and Honors in Cancer Research

Catherine J. Wu, MD (Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator ‘07-‘12) and colleagues at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, found that in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), treatment produced shorter remissions if the tumor tissue showed signs of highly disorganized methylation, chemical modifications on the DNA that regulate gene expression. The findings demonstrate that such disorganization can actually benefit tumors and render them less vulnerable to anti-cancer drugs. The study was published in the journal Cancer Cell.