A. Balmain

The interplay between dormant mutated cells and tumor promotion by chronic tissue damage in determining cancer risk.

This study analyzes mouse skin tumors to determine how environmental factors like TPA, obesity, and wounding affect mutational burden and cancer risk, finding that tumor promoters, not mutation number, limit tumor growth.

Gene networks reveal stem-cell state convergence during preneoplasia and progression to malignancy in multistage skin carcinogenesis

The paper identifies gene networks driving cancer progression by analyzing stem-cell states in mouse skin carcinogenesis and links them to drug resistance and immune surveillance in human tumors.

PTPN14, a modifier of HHT, protects SMAD4 from ubiquitination and turnover to potentiate BMP9 signaling in endothelial cells.

This study identifies PTPN14 as a stabilizer of SMAD4, enhancing BMP9 signaling in endothelial cells and suggesting potential drug targets for HHT.

Regulation of KRAS4A/B splicing in cancer stem cells by the RBM39 splicing complex.

This study identifies KRAS4A and KRAS4B splice isoforms with distinct expression patterns in cancer stem cells and shows that targeting KRAS4A splicing is a potential therapeutic strategy in KRAS mutant tumors.

Integration of pathway, cellular and genetic context reveals principles of synthetic lethality that affect reproducibility

The paper identifies principles for improving synthetic lethality reproducibility by integrating pathway, cellular, and genetic context in KRAS-mutant cells.