Johns Hopkins Oncology Center other research news

Johns Hopkins researchers and colleagues published in The New England Journal of Medicine that methylation of the promoter DNA region of the O6-methylguanine- DNA methyltransferase gene (MGMT, also known as O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase) silences the gene, which, when expressed, inhibits the ability of alkylating agents to kill tumor cells. They found that the MGMT promoter was methylated in 19 of 47 glioma patients treated with carmustine (BCNU) chemotherapy, and such methylation was associated with tumor regression and prolonged overall and disease-free survival. The researchers suggested that MGMT promoter methylation is a useful predictor of the response of gliomas to alkylating agents. ...