Doctors say they have found a protein that links all cancers

According to new research, each type of cancer appears to fall into one of two newly discovered categories, depending on whether or not they produce a single protein.

The researchers, led by scientists from various institutions in the Sinai health system, published a study in the journal Cancer cell last week, which links all forms of cancer to a regular transcriptional protein called Yes-associated protein (YAP).

They found distinct differences between cancer cells that express YAP, which they called “YAPon” cancers, compared to “YAPoff cancers,” which do not.

The main aim of the new study was to complement this YAP-focused investigation of different cancers, but the work also has important implications for the development of cancer treatments and possibly even cures.

While YAPoff cancers tend to be particularly deadly, YAPon and YAPoff cancers have consistent vulnerabilities within their clusters, the scientists found. For example, even exposing a YAPoff tumor to YAP seems to prevent it from growing.

Unfortunately, individual tumors are able to switch between the two conditions as a survival mechanism in the face of treatment, making their eradication a bit trickier.

Because most cancer findings are extremely specific, it’s fascinating to see new work that draws big patterns in all known cancers – and it could lead to better treatments in the future.

“The simple binary rule we discovered may outline strategies for treating many types of cancer that fall into the YAPoff or YAPon superclasses,” said Joel Pearson, study co-author and Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute scientist. , in a press release. “Additionally, as cancers jump-stage to escape therapy, having ways to treat the YAPoff and YApon condition could become a general approach to prevent this cancer from changing types to resist drug treatments.”

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