University of Toronto other research news

Canadian researchers reported in The New England Journal of Medicine that mutations in a tumor suppressor gene occur in some patients with multiple primary melanomas. These patients have repeat melanoma of the same tissue type. The gene, CDKN2A, was mutated in the germ cells in 5 of 33 patients with multiple primary melanomas, and in three families, mutations identical to those found in the initial patients also were uncovered in other family members.

The gene codes a cell cycle regulator that blocks two protein kinases that in turn phosphorylate the retinoblastoma protein, allowing the cell cycle to proceed. ...