Kevin B. Jones

We focus most of our research on dissecting the genetic and epigenetic underpinnings of sarcoma initiation. Although sarcomas are rare cancers, the tissues which give rise to sarcomas when they become cancerous are the predominant tissues in the human body, the muscles, tendons, bones, vessels, fat, etc. These tissues derive from mesenchyme or mesoderm. While many organ-based cancer cells gain some characteristics of mesenchyme or mesoderm as they become malignant, turning mesenchyme itself into cancer is much more difficult. The intrinsic resistance to transformation (the process of becoming cancerous) in mesenchyme has brought particular focus to any factor capable of overcoming that resistance and forming cancers from connective tissues.Thus, sarcomas--not only in spite of, but actually because of their low frequency in the general population--have played a central role in the fundamental discoveries of cancer biology. For example, radium dial painters developing osteosarcomas led to the discovery that radiation causes cancer. Oncogenes, the tumor causing genes, were discovered by study of a virus that caused sarcomas in birds. Tumor suppressor genes, the genes that when turned off lead to cancer, were discovered because families had too many sarcomas (Even two is way too common in any one family!) We therefore pursue sarcoma biology vigorously not only because we need to generate better treatment strategies for this horrible group of cancers that impacts young people disproportionately, but also because sarcoma will likely yet teach us much more about cancer biology in general, especially its beginnings.