Rhabdomyosarcoma

Gene that drives apoptosis also plays key role in development of skeletal muscle

Published in Cancer Weekly, April 1st, 2003

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered that a protein causing mature cells to commit suicide also helps primitive muscle cells called myoblasts fuse together, allowing them to develop into muscles.

The finding of this unexpected new role for the protein, called FKHR, suggests that future research might offer clues to how mutated forms of this molecule cause a form of muscle cancer in children called rhabdomyosarcoma.

Rhabdomyosarcoma is a highly malignant tumor arising when primitive cells called myoblasts do not fuse and differentiate into muscle, but rather grow uncontrollably. Rhabdomyosarcoma accounts for 5-8% of...

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Source: Cancer Weekly (2003-04-01)

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