Research on a rare cancer exposes possible route to new treatments

Researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah discovered the unusual role of lactate in the metabolism of alveolar soft part sarcoma, a rare, aggressive cancer that primarily affects adolescents and young adults. The study also confirmed that a fusion gene is the cancer-causing agent in this disease. ASPS tumor cells contain a chromosomal translocation--strands of DNA from two chromosomes trade places. The two strands fuse together to create a new gene, ASPSCR1-TFE3 that functions differently than either "parent" gene. For the study, Kevin B. Jones, MD, an HCI investigator and assistant professor in the Department of Orthopaedics at the U of U, and his research team activated the ASPSCR1-TFE3 gene in mice. Read more here.