April 19, 2021
In a study by Yale Cancer Center, researchers report on the discovery of a common mechanism that promotes both autoimmune diseases and blood cancers, including the blood diseases Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) and Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL). The results could help scientists better understand disease origin and progression in patients. The paper is published online today in the journal
Molecular Cell.
“Our findings are very exciting in the field of both autoimmune disease and cancer, as they illustrate how pathogenic cells can ‘mis-use’ machinery from related cell types to cause disease and protect themselves from elimination,” said Markus Müschen, MD, PhD, Director of the Center of Molecular and Cellular Oncology and Arthur H. and Isabel Bunker Professor of Medicine (Hematology) at Yale Cancer Center, and senior author of the study.