MIT Technology Review April 23, 2024
Precancerous colon cells turn on a gene that helps them evade the immune system until they develop into tumors.
One of the immune system’s roles is to detect and kill cells that have acquired cancerous mutations. However, some early-stage cancer cells manage to survive. A new study on colon cancer from MIT and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has identified one reason why: they turn on a gene called SOX17, which renders them essentially invisible to immune surveillance.
The researchers focused on precancerous growths called polyps that often form as mutations accumulate in the intestinal stem cells, whose job is to continually regenerate the lining of the intestines. Using a technique they had developed for growing mini colon tumors in a...
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