{"id":1823,"date":"2017-05-24T12:12:20","date_gmt":"2017-05-24T19:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/"},"modified":"2025-02-28T14:07:27","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T22:07:27","slug":"the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret to Combating Pancreatic Cancer May Lie in Suppression of a Common Protein"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n Press Release<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n

The Secret to Combating Pancreatic Cancer May Lie in Suppression of a Common Protein<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n Mary Dacuma<\/span>\n \n May 24, 2017<\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n \n
\n\n \n
<\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/path><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/path><\/path><\/g><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div>
<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n <\/div>\n\n \n
\n\n \n \n \n
\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n
Amy Lee, PhD<\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n \n \n \n\n<\/div>\n \n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\r\n\r\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n\n \n
\n \n
\n\n \n

New research emphasizes the potential of a promising pancreatic cancer target<\/em>
\nNew research from the\u00a0Keck School of Medicine of the USC\u00a0shows new promise in the fight against one of the most lethal forms of cancer. Studies in mice with a mutation present in 90 percent of pancreatic cancer patients (the KRAS mutation) indicate that expressing only half the amount of the glucose-regulated protein GRP78 is enough to halt the earliest stage of pancreatic cancer development.
\nThe study, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, suggests that because the protein is required for \u201cswitching\u201d healthy pancreatic cells that produce enzymes to digest food into potentially cancerous cells, reducing the amount of this protein delays pancreatic cancer development and prolongs survival. The study, published online on May 16 in the\u00a0Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America<\/a>, is the first to establish the pivotal role of the protein in pancreatic cancer.
\n\u201cCancer cells are addicted to high levels of GRP78 for cancer development and growth. Our hope is that partially reducing or inactivating the protein by therapeutic agents could one day be an effective complementary therapy for pancreatic cancer and other cancers, while sparing other healthy organs,\u201d said\u00a0Amy Lee, PhD<\/a>, professor of biochemistry and molecular medicine at the Keck School and the Judy and Larry Freeman Chair in Basic Science Research at the\u00a0USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center<\/a>.
\nLee, who was the first scientist to clone human GRP78, has since dedicated much of her research to investigating the protein\u2019s role in cancer progression and treatment. For her scientific contributions, Lee was honored by a MERIT award from the National Cancer Institute and elected as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
\n

\"The
The green line represents male mice with pancreatic cancer-causing genes and expressing half the normal amount of GRP78 protein. These mice survived longer than those that had pancreatic cancer-causing genes, but normal levels of GRP78, represented by the red line.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\n\u201cAs developing drugs directly targeting the KRAS genetic mutation has been challenging, we are thrilled these findings indicate that we can attack KRAS-driven pancreatic cancer through an entirely new method,\u201d Lee said.
\nGRP78 is a stress-inducible protein that folds newly synthesized proteins and performs quality control in the endoplasmic reticulum (an essential component of human cells). During stress, a fraction of GRP78 is shipped out to the cell surface to perform additional growth and survival functions. Cancer cells, particularly those that survive treatment, typically undergo more stress than healthy cells, resulting in increased levels of GRP78 to help the cancer cells survive, grow and develop therapeutic resistance.
\nA number of studies across cancer types have shown a relationship between highly elevated levels of the protein and increased risk for cancer recurrence or decreased survival. With GRP78 emerging as an attractive anti-cancer target, there is active development of potential treatments that can inhibit GRP78 activity or expression, including some that are in early-phase clinical trials with promising results. Certain food and herbs, including green tea and soy, contain natural compounds that can suppress the protein, Lee said.
\nPatients and physicians alike are eager for more effective treatments for pancreatic cancer, as it is among the deadliest forms of cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 53,600 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, and more than 43,000 people will die from the disease. The five-year survival rate for early stage pancreatic cancer is only 12 percent, compared to 100 percent for breast cancer and prostate cancer and 92 percent for colon cancer.
\n\u201cTranslating any basic science discovery into clinical practice is a long process that requires substantial resources,\u201d Lee said. \u201cBut given the notorious difficulties of treating KRAS-mutation related cancers, particularly in a disease as devastating as pancreatic cancer, this research provides hope and a novel approach. I am excited to put our theories to test in the clinical setting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":1826,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[10,532,20],"class_list":["post-1823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","tag-cancer","tag-department-of-cancer-biology","tag-research"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Secret to Combating Pancreatic Cancer May Lie in Suppression of a Common Protein<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Secret to Combating Pancreatic Cancer May Lie in Suppression of a Common Protein\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KECKschoolUSC\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-24T19:12:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-28T22:07:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Amy-Lee.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"447\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"\u00a0Mary Dacuma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@KeckSchool_USC\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@KeckSchool_USC\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\u00a0Mary Dacuma\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6c8fdd64b7c74b7e3b6ee5d2287f8f7f\"},\"headline\":\"The Secret to Combating Pancreatic Cancer May Lie in Suppression of a Common Protein\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-24T19:12:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-28T22:07:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":14,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Amy-Lee.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Cancer\",\"Department of Cancer Biology\",\"Research\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Secret to Combating Pancreatic Cancer May Lie in Suppression of a Common Protein\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Amy-Lee.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-24T19:12:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-28T22:07:27+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Amy-Lee.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/Amy-Lee.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":447,\"caption\":\"Amy Lee, PhD\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Secret to Combating Pancreatic Cancer May Lie in Suppression of a Common Protein\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Keck School of Medicine of USC\",\"alternateName\":\"Keck School of Medicine\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/68\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"Keck School of Medicine of USC\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/KECKschoolUSC\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/KeckSchool_USC\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/school\\\/keckschoolusc\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/KeckSchoolUSC\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCpL1E1W5ZTfkc5iihwLSFEA\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tiktok.com\\\/@keckschoolusc\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6c8fdd64b7c74b7e3b6ee5d2287f8f7f\",\"name\":\"\u00a0Mary Dacuma\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e73fd115120d645aa30c78ab50912513e5d32b733be4128b5b71dbeef192bee2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e73fd115120d645aa30c78ab50912513e5d32b733be4128b5b71dbeef192bee2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/e73fd115120d645aa30c78ab50912513e5d32b733be4128b5b71dbeef192bee2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"\u00a0Mary Dacuma\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/keck.usc.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/mary_dacuma\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Secret to Combating Pancreatic Cancer May Lie in Suppression of a Common Protein","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Secret to Combating Pancreatic Cancer May Lie in Suppression of a Common Protein","og_url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KECKschoolUSC\/","article_published_time":"2017-05-24T19:12:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-02-28T22:07:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":447,"url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Amy-Lee.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"\u00a0Mary Dacuma","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@KeckSchool_USC","twitter_site":"@KeckSchool_USC","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/"},"author":{"name":"\u00a0Mary Dacuma","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6c8fdd64b7c74b7e3b6ee5d2287f8f7f"},"headline":"The Secret to Combating Pancreatic Cancer May Lie in Suppression of a Common Protein","datePublished":"2017-05-24T19:12:20+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-28T22:07:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/"},"wordCount":14,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Amy-Lee.jpg","keywords":["Cancer","Department of Cancer Biology","Research"],"articleSection":["Press Release"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/","name":"The Secret to Combating Pancreatic Cancer May Lie in Suppression of a Common Protein","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Amy-Lee.jpg","datePublished":"2017-05-24T19:12:20+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-28T22:07:27+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Amy-Lee.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Amy-Lee.jpg","width":600,"height":447,"caption":"Amy Lee, PhD"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/the-secret-to-combating-pancreatic-cancer-may-lie-in-suppression-of-a-common-protein\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Secret to Combating Pancreatic Cancer May Lie in Suppression of a Common Protein"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#organization","name":"Keck School of Medicine of USC","alternateName":"Keck School of Medicine","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/keck-school-of-medicine-logo-696-square.jpg","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"Keck School of Medicine of USC"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KECKschoolUSC\/","https:\/\/x.com\/KeckSchool_USC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/keckschoolusc\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/KeckSchoolUSC\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCpL1E1W5ZTfkc5iihwLSFEA","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@keckschoolusc"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/6c8fdd64b7c74b7e3b6ee5d2287f8f7f","name":"\u00a0Mary Dacuma","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e73fd115120d645aa30c78ab50912513e5d32b733be4128b5b71dbeef192bee2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e73fd115120d645aa30c78ab50912513e5d32b733be4128b5b71dbeef192bee2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e73fd115120d645aa30c78ab50912513e5d32b733be4128b5b71dbeef192bee2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"\u00a0Mary Dacuma"},"url":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/author\/mary_dacuma\/"}]}},"author_meta":{"display_name":"\u00a0Mary Dacuma","author_link":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/author\/mary_dacuma\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/68\/2023\/11\/Amy-Lee-300x224.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Press Release<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Press Release<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Cancer<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Department of Cancer Biology<\/a>","<a href=\"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/category\/press-release\/\" class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Research<\/a>"],"unlinked":["<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Cancer<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Department of Cancer Biology<\/span>","<span class=\"advgb-post-tax-term\">Research<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 9 years ago","modified":"Updated 1 year ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on May 24, 2017","modified":"Updated on February 28, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on May 24, 2017 12:12 pm","modified":"Updated on February 28, 2025 2:07 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}