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MIT. "But now we have to repeat exactly in human patients, which we did in mice," says the researcher. Guardians Has long been known that p53 plays a key role in the development of many cancers. The P53 is the "guardian of the genome" because it causes the "suicide" of cells with damaged DNA. When the gene becomes defective and is disabled, you produce the conditions for the development of various cancers. The p53 gene plays a crucial role in the development of cancer. The P53 is one of the most widely studied genes in cancer research. Scientists had already identified compounds able to restore their functions. But so far not known whether this renewed activity could reverse the growth of established tumors. The two studies published in Nature appear to have shown that it can. "The importance of this study has shown that it is possible that cancer cells even in advanced stages of cancer may be influenced by the P53," says Dr. Jacks. "And if we can restore the function of P53, we will achieve dramatic results," said the scientist. In the MIT study, the researchers used genetically modified mice who had been off the P53 gene. But also included a "switch" that allowed researchers to revive the P53 after tumors had developed. Once the switch was activated, p53 appeared in cancer cells and most tumors shrank between 40 and 100%. "Until this study believed that the function of p53 was only important before tumor formation," says Dr. Jacks. "But the study found that cancer cells actually continue to monitor the status of oncogenic pathways and make it through the P53" he says. Any cure? These studies provide clear evidence that restoring the functions of the P53 gene may be a therapeutic method of dramatic results Dr. Tyler Jacks, MIT The mechanisms of tumor regression appear to vary depending on the type of tumor. In the lymphoma cancer cells were misled to commit suicide. In cancer, sarcoma (connective tissue), the cells began to age and lost their ability to divide. Researchers are now trying to identify other genes that are activated in each type of tumor is reactivated whenever the P53. The results, experts say, are unique and offer a "powerful" to treat this disease. However, we now have to prove that the same results can be obtained in humans. "We still will be quite some time before we can be able to repeat these same effects on patients," says Dr. Jacks. "If we had success with humans undoubtedly achieve therapeutic benefits, but still can not say that this is the total cure for cancer," says the researcher.