An international team of researchers from Japan, the US and the UK has analyzed the function of the histone demethylase KDM5A in multiple myeloma, one of the three major hematological cancers, and clarified the mechanism by which it promotes myeloma cell proliferation. They also developed a novel KDM5 inhibitor and showed that it inhibits cancer cell growth in a myeloma mouse model. The researchers expect that new therapies targeting KDM5A will be developed in the future.