Dr. Edgar Diaz-Cruz, Assistant Professor of Pharmacy, has had his manuscript titled “The CDK4/6 Inhibitor PD0332991 Reverses Epithelial Dysplasia Associated With Abnormal Activation of the Cyclin-CDK-Rb Pathway” accepted for publication in the journal Cancer Prevention Research.

Loss of normal growth control is a hallmark of cancer progression. An important strategy in cancer prevention treatment programs is to target the reversal of premalignant disease through re-differentiation. Utilizing a mouse model of dysplasia and an orally available CDK4/6 inhibitor (PD0332991) Diaz-Cruz and his team were able to identify cell cycle related proteins as mechanisms responsible for dysplasia persisting after an initial “genetic insult” was established. In particular, this study distinguished CDK4 and phosphorylated Rb as targets for cancer chemoprevention.