Scientists crack 'entire genetic code' of cancer

[one...two...tree 2,762]

By Michelle Roberts

Health reporter, BBC News

Scientists have unlocked the entire genetic code of two of the most common cancers - skin and lung - a move they say could revolutionise cancer care.

Not only will the cancer maps pave the way for blood tests to spot tumours far earlier, they will also yield new drug targets, says the Wellcome Trust team.

Scientists around the globe are now working to catalogue all the genes that go wrong in many types of human cancer.

The UK is looking at breast cancer, Japan at liver and India at mouth.

China is studying stomach cancer, and the US is looking at cancers of the brain, ovary and pancreas.

The International Cancer Genome Consortium scientists from the 10 countries involved say it will take them at least five years and many hundreds of thousands of dollars to complete this mammoth task.

But once they have done this, patients will reap the benefits.

Professor Michael Stratton, who is the UK lead, said: "These catalogues are going to change the way we think about individual cancers.

"By identifying all the cancer genes we will be able to develop new drugs that target the specific mutated genes and work out which patients will benefit from these novel treatments.

"We can envisage a time when following the removal of a cancer cataloguing it will become routine."

It could even be possible to develop MoT-style blood tests for healthy adults that can check for tell-tale DNA patterns suggestive of cancer.

link

[Niels Bohr 72]

HAL9000,

I thought cancer cells has the problem in mitosis where apoptosis mechanism doesn't kick in. How did this dude crack "entire genetic code" of cancer? In my mind, we already have the genetic code of the cells already.

[scandal 951]

I suppose we'll have all our RWN friends telling us that this is yet another example of taxpayer dollars being wasted on frivolous scientific research ....

[Kathryn41 3,207]

The topic title is a little misleading - it isn't 'the entire genetic code of' all cancers but of two biggies - skin and lung cancers. Still, that is quite an achievement if they are now able to identify where cancer cells change, diverge or mutate out of the regular cells. Good stuff!

Edited December 16, 2009 by Kathryn41

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I suppose we'll have all our RWN friends telling us that this is yet another example of taxpayer dollars being wasted on frivolous scientific research ....

...they weren't climate scientists, so they're cool.

[Peikko 1,575]

They are in the UK, they can't be cool, or real. The UK has socialist health care and the only research that is done into disease is done in the US by proper scientists paid by pharma companies because only profit drives results.

[SMOKE 1,426]

smoke'em if you gottem

[Ban Hammer 14,665]

smoke'em if you gottem

meanwhile, the british are studying the breast.

[scandal 951]

smoke'em if you gottem

meanwhile, the british are studying the breast.

Those limeys always did have an eye for the ladies!

[mawilson 2,133]

smoke'em if you gottem

meanwhile, the british are studying the breast.

:lol:

[HAL 9000 96]

HAL9000,

I thought cancer cells has the problem in mitosis where apoptosis mechanism doesn't kick in. How did this dude crack "entire genetic code" of cancer? In my mind, we already have the genetic code of the cells already.

Technically, bad cancer is defined by its ability to metastasize out of control and thereby, affect how the body functions.

You're thinking of oncogenic capability of cells. Many cancer genes (oncogenes) are involved in what you describe- either a mutation in a gene that controls how much a cell divides or a mutation in a gene that removes the programs for cells to commit suicide once a certain cellular state is passed that is not beneficial to the organism.

Yes, the human genome is sequenced, but that does not mean that all genes are correctly sequenced in terms of actual genetic sequence to actual gene product (protein). Research is obviously still going in to define the specific regions of DNA that code for proteins and what regions are regulatory (affect the expression of those genes... sometimes erroneously called 'junk DNA'), and what regions are merely 'filler' sequences.