Robert A. Casero, Jr., Ph.D.
Institutional Affiliation
Professor of Oncology
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
http://faculty.jhsph.edu/default.cfm?faculty_id=117&grouped=false&searchText=
&department_id=4&departmentName=
Environmental%20Health%20Sciences
Education
University of Buffalo Graduate Division – Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Ph.D.
Fellowship
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Research
Novel Therapies Targeting Epigenetic Silencing of Tumor Suppressors
Impact
The goal of this program is to identify therapies capable of leading to the re-expression of aberrantly silenced genes in tumor cells, thus restoring normal growth control or inducing cell death.
Summary of Research
Cancer is a result of a combination of genetic changes (actual mutations/changes in gene sequences, or loss of genes themselves) and epigenetic changes (changes in gene expression resulting from modifications in the way in which DNA is packaged on chromosomes). Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible. Epigenetic silencing of genes responsible for regulating cell growth and stop cancer from starting and progressing frequently occur in the development of cancer. Our research seeks to identify treatments that can reverse the aberrant epigenetic silencing of these important growth regulating and tumor suppressing genes. New treatments using this strategy are beginning to show clinical promise in specific types of cancer. We hope to expand this promise by discovering better treatments and identifying additional cancers in which treatments targeting epigenetic changes are successful. |
