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New Haven, Conn. In a new study, Yale Cancer Center researchers have defined the genetic landscape of uterine leiomyosarcomas (uLMS). Furthermore, using fully sequenced patient-derived xenografts, the team has preclinically validated new treatment modalities, which may point to new treatments for uterine cancer. Study results were published online in an early edition of the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS).
Uterine cancer is the most common gynecologic malignancy and uterine leiomyosarcomas (uLMS) are highly lethal sarcomas arising from the myometrium, the smooth muscle layer of the uterus. They represent the most common type of uterine sarcomas, which overall account for three to seven percent of all uterine cancers. uLMS have poor prognosis and are characterized by aggressive biological behavior leading to early local and distant metastatic spread.
Credit: The Wistar Institute
PHILADELPHIA (April 1, 2021 Scientists at The Wistar Institute identified a new mechanism of transcriptional control of cellular senescence that drives the release of inflammatory molecules that influence tumor development through altering the surrounding microenvironment. The study, published in
Nature Cell Biology, reports that methyltransferase-like 3 (METTL3) and 14 (METTL14) proteins moonlight as transcriptional regulators that allow for establishment of the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP).
Cellular senescence is a stable state of growth arrest in which cells stop dividing but remain viable and produce an array of inflammatory and growth-promoting molecules collectively defined as SASP. These molecules account for the complex crosstalk between senescent cells and neighboring cells and the effect of cellular senescence in various physiological processes and diseases. Although senescence is regarded as a potent barrier for tum