A recent study has linked inflammation-driven carcinogenesis in the colon to loss of an important signaling protein called SMAD4.

Extracts of the plant turmeric — the spice that gives Indian curries a yellow color — have been used as an anti-inflammatory treatment in traditional Asian medicine for centuries. Claus Schneider, PhD, and colleagues have discovered that curcumin (the active chemical compound in turmeric) is a “pro-drug” that is converted into reactive metabolites with anti-inflammatory activities.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) have demonstrated for the first time that it is possible to starve a tumor and stop its growth with a newly discovered small compound that blocks uptake of the vital nutrient glutamine.

Cancer investigators led by researchers at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center have co-developed a liquid biopsy blood-based assay used to identify specific gene mutations associated with the development or relapse of small-cell lung cancer (SCLC)

Patients with small intestine neuroendocrine tumors often have mesenteric tumor deposits (MTDs) in the abdomen – discrete tumor nodules that are not connected to the primary tumor. The clinical significance of these tumor deposits has not been thoroughly investigated, and they are not included in the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for […]

Metastatic pancreatic cancer — cancer that has spread from the pancreas to other tissues and is responsible for most patient deaths — changes its metabolism and is “reprogrammed” for optimal malignancy, according to new findings reported Jan. 16 in Nature Genetics. It may be possible to reverse the malignant reprogramming to treat metastatic pancreatic cancer, […]

Despite dramatic recent advances in treatment, colorectal cancer killed more than 49,000 Americans last year, according to the National Cancer Institute, making it the second most lethal malignancy after cancers of the lung and bronchus. Determined to reduce the death toll, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center recently put on their 3-D “glasses” and took […]

Vanderbilt’s Robert Coffey Jr., M.D.

The targeted anti-cancer therapies cetuximab and panitumumab are mainstays of treatment for advanced colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. However, many patients have tumors with genetic mutations that make them resistant to these anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) monoclonal antibodies, or the cancers develop resistance during treatment.

Many women who receive chemotherapy for breast cancer report problems with their thinking, memory and attention after treatment. And as the survival rates for breast cancer increase, so do these issues associated with chemotherapy. Paul Newhouse, M.