Deadly liver cancer may be triggered by cells changing identity
Monday, July 16, 2012 - 14:00
in Health & Medicine
A rare type of cancer thought to derive from cells in the bile ducts of the liver may actually develop when one type of liver cell morphs into a totally different type, a process scientists used to consider all but impossible. UCSF researchers triggered this kind of cellular transformation -- and caused tumors to form in mice -- by activating just two genes. Their discovery suggests that drugs that are able to target those genes may provide a way to treat the deadly cancer, known as cholangiocarcinoma.