Research Highlights in 2011

Johanna Joyce and colleagues show that tumour-associated macrophages protect breast tumour cells from cell death mediated by various chemotherapeutic agents.

This paper describes a new proteasome inhibitor that targets the 19S regulatory subunit.

PBX1 can function as a pioneer factor in ERα-positive breast cancer.

Two papers inNature Geneticsshow that the isocitrate dehydrogenases IDH1 and IDH2 are mutated in two subtypes of the cancer-prone enchondromatosis syndrome.

A paper published inCancer Cellreports that platelets can provide pro-metastatic signals to circulating tumour cells.

Two studies reported inNature have identified a mutation in microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) that predisposes to familial melanoma, as well as to sporadic melanoma and renal cell carcinoma.

A new study uses mathematical modelling to investigate the limitations of blood-based biomarkers for cancer screening.

A new study characterizes a role for the adaptive immune response in tumour suppression through the immune surveillance of premalignant hepatocytes.

The treatment of patients with refractory non-small-cell lung cancer with a low-dose DNA methyltransferase inhibitor and a histone deacetylase inhibitor shows promise for a subset of patients.

A new study compares the effects ofBRCA1 and BRCA2lesions on clinical treatment responses in ovarian cancer.

Using a mouse model of chemically induced skin tumours, Cédric Blanpain and colleagues have uncovered an autocrine role for vascular endothelial growth factor signalling in cancer stem cells.

Genomic analysis combined with functional screening has identified an extracellular non-membrane bound form of the ephrin receptor EPHA7 as a tumour suppressor in follicular lymphoma that could be exploited therapeutically.

ThisCellpaper shows that an interaction between the SH2 and kinase domains of BCR–ABL is necessary for kinase activation; inhibition of this interface prevents leukaemogenesis in mice and can restore sensitivity to tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Two papers have identified a new pathway through which the loss of the tumour suppressor fumarate hydratase might promote tumour development.

Protein-coding and non-coding RNAs influence the interaction of microRNAs with their target RNAs.

Two new studies describe a tumour suppressive role for NF-κB as a master regulator of a secretory phenotype during senescencein vivo.

A recentNaturepaper identifies a catabolite of tryptophan as an endogenous ligand of aryl hydrocarbon receptor and links this pathway to tumorigenesis and suppression of antitumour immunity.

Daley and colleagues show that LIN28-mediated suppression of let-7 microRNAs activates the insulin–PI3K–mTOR pathway to regulate glucose metabolism, connecting type 2 diabetes and cancer.

USP1 stabilizes ID proteins to inhibit differentiation in mesenchymal stem cells and osteosarcoma cells.

Chemokine signalling through CXCR2 in stromal fibroblasts can improve survival in a mouse model of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.