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Tumours form without genetic mutations

Researchers find that brief and reversible inhibition of a gene-silencing mechanism leads to irreversible tumour formation in fruit flies, challenging the idea that cancer is caused only by permanent changes to DNA.
  1. Anne-Kathrin Classen

    1. Anne-Kathrin Classen is in the Faculty of Biology and the Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies (CIBSS), University of Freiburg, Freiburg 79104, Germany.

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The formation of tumours and progression to cancer are usually thought to be driven by the accumulation of permanent genetic mutations. Specific genetic mutations that have been linked to cancer often alter gene-expression programs, promoting changes in a host of cellular functions, including proliferation, differentiation, metabolism and survival1,2. Writing in Nature, Parreno et al.3 challenge the idea that tumours arise only from permanent genetic mutations. Using fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), they demonstrate that transiently disrupting mechanisms that regulate gene expression without making changes to the DNA sequence — a process known as epigenetic regulation — is sufficient to establish gene-expression programs that support tumour initiation and progression.

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Nature 629, 534-535 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01019-2

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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