"The re-expression of genes that promote cell adhesion in cancer cells upon inhibition of the Smad signaling pathway causes reversal of tumorigenic properties and puts the brakes on cancer progression," said principal investigator, Sam Thiagalingam, PhD, an associate professor of medicine and pathology and a member of the Cancer Research Center at BUSM. "This study may pave the way to discovering other pathways and network of events that are responsible for sustaining epigenetic memory in cancer and cancer stem cells and could lead to the unraveling of effective targets for eradication of tumor cells as well as tumor initiating cells," he added.

"While targeting of TGF and TGF receptors have been actively pursued for cancer therapy, the current finding may introduce a new spin on the wheel and lead to the development of new therapeutic strategies for late stage breast and other cancers by the direct perturbation of the Smad signaling pathway," explained lead author Panos Papageorgis, PhD, a post-doctoral fellow in the genetics program at BUSM.

Source: Boston University Medical Center