Protein common in cancers jumps anti-tumor mechanisms
Tuesday, March 18, 2014 - 12:32
in Health & Medicine
A cellular protein, STAT3, which is overactive in a majority of cancers, interferes with an antitumor mechanism in cells and therefore promotes the growth of cancer, an international research team has discovered. The researchers made their discovery by using the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) as a tool to probe fundamental cancer development-related questions. EBV, which causes infectious mononucleosis, is carried by approximately 95 percent of the world's population, is implicated in several types of lymphoma and other cancers, and was the first virus identified to cause cancer in humans.