NIH

Although cancers arising from different areas of the large intestine are heterogeneous, they appear to use similar important tumorigenic pathways.

The Vanderbilt Digestive Disease Research Center (VDDRC) celebrates its 15th anniversary this year with a third consecutive five-year renewal of its federal research grant.

Integrins are membrane proteins made up of combinations of different “alpha” and “beta” subunits that enable cells throughout the body to interact with their surroundings.

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.

Tumors cause the intracellular material surrounding them to stiffen. Softening this protective layer could make existing cancer treatments more effective, according to new research.

Vanderbilt investigators recommend that the presence of tumor deposits in the abdomen be included when staging midgut neuroendocrine tumors.

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine has long been recognized as a national leader in biomedical research. Nowhere is this more evident than in the school’s Department of Medicine, which, during the 2016 federal fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, broke another record.