CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- This new University of Virginia discovery is giving insight on how exactly cancer builds itself a home in human bodies.

Chongzhi Zang, a computational biologist for UVA’s Center Public Health’s Genomics, says when components of human chromosomes are arranged, it can affect our genes. When these arrangements take place, cancer begins to make a comfortable home inside of cells.

Zang says cancer relies on a protein called CTCF, also known as the “CCCTC-binding factor,” which occurs naturally.

In healthy cells, Zang says CTCF plays a vital role in maintaining the chromosomal structure and turning genes on and off as needed.

Through the data collection of human tissue and cancer samples, Zang says the researchers have identified abnormal patterns.

"We found that CTCF goes to some places it shouldn't go in normal cells, and it doesn't appear in some other places that it should've," he said.

As a result, this creates a different chromosome structure in the cancer genome.

The researchers identified patterns of CTCF remodeling in six different cancers, including T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer and prostate cancer.

Zang says they validated their findings by looking specifically at T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

He adds that although this is a small step in the right direction, it gives a better understanding on how to develop drugs that target each cancer.