Dana-Farber scientists identify additional challenges in KRAS-driven cancers
- Posted: June 20, 2014
Scientists have redoubled efforts to disable the mutated cancer gene KRAS, which confers an especially poor prognosis and has proved extraordinarily difficult to target. New research has identified an additional hurdle: inhibiting KRAS can activate a backup pathway in cancer cells that enables them to survive and thrive in the oncogene's absence.
Among the research institutions NCI funds across the United States, it currently designates 68 as Cancer Centers. Largely based in research universities, these facilities are home to many of the NCI-supported scientists who conduct a wide range of intense, laboratory research into cancer’s origins and development. The Cancer Centers Program also focuses on trans-disciplinary research, including population science and clinical research. The centers’ research results are often at the forefront of studies in the cancer field.