An international team that included researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center has discovered a molecular switch that induces rapid proliferation of zymogen granule-secreting chief cells in the stomach to regenerate damaged tissue.

VUMC researchers have created the world’s first laboratory model of precancerous changes in the lining of the stomach, a scientific tour de force that is helping to unlock the mysteries of gastric cancer development.

Cancer Research UK has awarded a 20-million-pound grant (about $25 million U.S.) to a team of international investigators, including Vanderbilt’s James Goldenring, MD, PhD, to study inflammation-related cancers.