Low oxygen can silence the BRCA1 tumor suppressor gene and contribute to the progression of cancer, according to a paper in the August 2011 issue of the journal Molecular and Cellular Biology. Silencing this particular gene is one of the steps on the malignant pathway to breast cancer. The research may ultimately lead to ways of reactivating this and other tumor suppressor genes, in order to thwart cancer, says corresponding author Peter Glazer of Yale University, New Haven.
