Gene needed for antibody-producing cell development is key to blood cell cancer.

2003 SEP 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A gene that is crucial to the development and function of an entire family of immune cells is also key to understanding why one member of that family can become cancerous.

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Blood Research Institute at the Blood Center of Southeastern Wisconsin, Milwaukee, reported this finding recently.

The St. Jude researchers had previously shown that one of these cell types, marginal-zone B cells, can give rise to a cancer called mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma when the cells abnormally over-express a gene called Bcl10.

The current finding …