In some aggressive tumours patients may benefit from a class of anti-inflammatory drugs called JAK inhibitors currently prescribed for rheumatoid arthritis a new research finds. Studying triple-negative breast cancer researchers found that some aggressive tumours rely on an antiviral pathway that appears to drive inflammation. The tumours that activate this particular antiviral pathway always have dysfunctional forms of the proteins p53 and ARF both encoded by genes known for being highly mutated in various cancers. The investigators found that the two genes compensate for each other. If both are mutated the tumours that form are more aggressive than if only
