Two CU Cancer Center studies provide insights into the link between inflammation and leukemia
Two recent collaborative publications by CU Cancer Center members provide insights into how chronic inflammation can serve as a key factor in the development of leukemia and other blood cancers.
Eric Pietras, Ph.D., CU Cancer Center member and assistant professor in the CU School of Medicine Division of Hematology, and James DeGregori, Ph.D., deputy director of the CU Cancer Center and professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, were corresponding authors on both papers.
Both papers provide support for the theory of adaptive oncogenesis, which was developed by DeGregori. The theory stipulates that chronic inflammation (such as the inflammation associated with aging or with chronic disease) reduces the fitness of normal cells, hindering their ability to reproduce and creating space for cells with cancer-causing mutations to proliferate.