E-Mail NEW YORK, NY (Feb. 1, 2021)--Errors in the way chromosomes are packed into antibody-producing B cells appear to play a role in the development of B cell-related blood cancers, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. The findings could lead to new biomarkers for predicting the onset of these cancers and to a new class of cancer therapies that prevent or correct harmful changes in genome architecture. The study was published online Feb. 1 in the journal Nature Genetics. Antibodies are made by immune cells called B cells through a series of carefully controlled chromosome rearrangements and "good" mutations that allow the cell to make a wide array of different antibodies. "Although these changes are essential for generating the vast diversity of antibodies, there is a risk that 'bad' mutations will occur and lead to B cell-derived cancers," says study leader Uttiya Basu, PhD, professor of microbiology & immunology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.