NZ experts find way to stop growth of some tumors

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - New Zealand researchers have found a way to stop the growth of certain cancer tumors by "silencing" a group of PAX genes, members of a small family of genes that play important roles in embryonic development, but also allow cancer cells to grow and divide in adult tissue.

In an article published in UK medical journal Oncogene, Otago University Professor Michael Eccles and colleagues revealed how they used the PAX8 gene to kill cancer cells.

After detecting high levels of PAX8 protein in the majority of kidney, ovarian and thyroid cancers they studied, the researchers used molecular techniques to silence the PAX8 gene in several cancer cell lines.