AFAR Grantee in the News: New Research by Ömer Yilmaz on the SOX 17 gene and its contributions to Colon cancer detection was published in Nature.
On February 28th, 2024, Nature published research co-authored by multiple AFAR Grantee Ömer Yilmaz, MD, PhD on precancerous cells in the colon that use a gene, SOX 17, to help evade detection leading to more advanced tumors.
The abstract states:
“A hallmark of cancer is the avoidance of immune destruction. This process has been primarily investigated in locally advanced or metastatic cancer; however, much less is known about how pre-malignant or early invasive tumours evade immune detection… We propose that SOX17 is a transcription factor that is engaged during the early steps of colon cancer to orchestrate an immune-evasive programme that permits CRC initiation and progression.”
This research was advanced in part thanks to the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research and AFAR Grants for Junior Faculty Dr. Yilmaz received in 2015 as well as his 2022 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Breakthroughs in Gerontology (BIG) Award.
Read the article, “SOX17 enables immune evasion of early colorectal adenomas and cancers” here.
