Liver Tumours – Good & Evil is Decided by Two Signalling Pathways

2007/07/30 12:57

Press Release from:

Austrian Science Fund FWF

The linking of two signalling pathways in the cells of liver tumours has a clear influence on their malignancy. Activation of the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) messenger molecule is decisive for this linking. This results related to the development of liver cancer was generated during a current project by the Austrian Science Fund FWF and has been published in the Journal Oncogene. When the signalling pathways in liver tumour cells have been linked together, these cells develop the characteristics of cancer stem cells, which are in principal resistant to chemotherapy. This new

Liver Tumours – Good & Evil is Decided by Two Signalling Pathways

Metastatic cells of liver tumours in a 3-dimensional gelmatrix.

understanding of the signalling pathways involved unlocks potential for the future development of modified therapies.

Original publication: Alexandra N. Fischer, Eva Fuchs, Mario Mikula, Heidemarie Huber, Hartmut Beug and Wolfgang Mikulits. 2007. PDGF essentially links TGF-beta signaling to nuclear beta-catenin accumulation in hepatocellular carcinoma progression. Oncogene 26:3395. Scientific Contact: Prof. Wolfgang Mikulits, Medical University of Vienna, Institute of Cancer Research, 1090 Vienna, Austria, T +43 / 1 / 4277 - 65250, F +43 / 1 / 4277 - 65239, E wolfgang.mikulits@meduniwien.ac.at