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Despite significant progress in understanding the genetic changes in many different cancers, diagnosis and classification of tumor type remain, at best, an imperfect art. This could change quickly, thanks to the findings of a group of researchers from the Ó³»­´«Ã½ of MIT and Harvard, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, MIT, and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, TN.

Tubacin, an experimental compound created at the Ó³»­´«Ã½, overcomes the resistance of myeloma cells to the drug Velcade when both are administered together. In fact, the combination is more than twice as effective as either drug alone in killing resistant cells from patients' bone marrow. Encouraged by these laboratory findings, the scientists hope to move rapidly to clinical trials of this novel combination therapy.