Cancer research: blocking a gene may block cancer growth

Activating a cancer suppressor gene called nutlin-3a can block cancer cell division, according to researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health.

Nutlin-3a activates the p53 gene, leading to cellular senescence, a process by which cells lose their ability to grow and divide. An opportunity for new genetic mutations occurs each time a cell divides, therefore limiting the number of cell divisions in a cancer cell inhibits tumour progression. This study is published in the May 1, 2008, issue of Cancer Research.