Two common forms of cancer have been genetically mapped for the
first time, British scientists said Wednesday, in a major
breakthrough in understanding the diseases.
The maps have exposed the DNA mutations that lead to skin and
lung cancers, in a discovery scientists said could transform the
way these diseases are diagnosed and treated in coming years.
All cancers are caused by damage to genes -- mutations in DNA --
that can be triggered by environmental factors such as tobacco
smoke, harmful chemicals or ultraviolet radiation, and causes cells
to grow out of control.
Scientists from Britain's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and
their collaborators have mapped this genetic damage from the
tumours of two patients suffering from lung cancer and malignant
melanoma, a deadly skin cancer.
"This is a fundamental moment in cancer research. From here on
in we will think about cancers in a very different way," said
Professor Mike Stratton who led the institute's cancer genome
project.
"Today for the first time, in two individual cancers, a melanoma
and a lung cancer, we have provided the complete list of
abnormalities in DNA in each of those two cancers," he told the
BBC.
"We now see uncovered all the forces that have generated that
cancer and we now see all the genes that are responsible for
driving those two cancers."
The scientists' research, published in the journal Nature, also
gained deeper insights into the way the body tries to repair the
damage caused by the cancers and stop the disease spreading.
Stratton said the research could in future change the way
cancers are treated -- by using genetic maps to find the defects
that caused them.
"Now that we have these comprehensive complete catalogues of
mutations on individual cancers, we will be able to see how each
cancer developed, what were the exposures, what were the
environmental factors and that's going to be key for our
understanding generally of how cancers develop," he said.
"And for our individual patients, we will see all the genes that
are abnormal and are driving each cancer and that's really
critical, because that will tell us which drugs are likely to have
an effect on that particular cancer and which are not."
Peter Campbell, a cancer-genomics expert involved in the
research, said the number of mutations discovered -- 33,345 for
melanoma -- and 22,910 for lung cancer -- was remarkable.
"It is amazing what you can see in these genomes," he said on
the website of the journal Nature.
The research shows most mutations could be traced to the effects
of chemicals in tobacco smoke (in the lung tumour) or ultraviolet
light (in the melanoma tumour), supporting the idea that they are
largely preventable.
"Every pack of cigarettes is like a game of Russian roulette,"
he said.
"Most of those mutations will land where nothing happens in the
genome and won't do major damage, but every once in a while they'll
hit a cancer gene."
first time, British scientists said Wednesday, in a major
breakthrough in understanding the diseases.
The maps have exposed the DNA mutations that lead to skin and
lung cancers, in a discovery scientists said could transform the
way these diseases are diagnosed and treated in coming years.
All cancers are caused by damage to genes -- mutations in DNA --
that can be triggered by environmental factors such as tobacco
smoke, harmful chemicals or ultraviolet radiation, and causes cells
to grow out of control.
Scientists from Britain's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and
their collaborators have mapped this genetic damage from the
tumours of two patients suffering from lung cancer and malignant
melanoma, a deadly skin cancer.
"This is a fundamental moment in cancer research. From here on
in we will think about cancers in a very different way," said
Professor Mike Stratton who led the institute's cancer genome
project.
"Today for the first time, in two individual cancers, a melanoma
and a lung cancer, we have provided the complete list of
abnormalities in DNA in each of those two cancers," he told the
BBC.
"We now see uncovered all the forces that have generated that
cancer and we now see all the genes that are responsible for
driving those two cancers."
The scientists' research, published in the journal Nature, also
gained deeper insights into the way the body tries to repair the
damage caused by the cancers and stop the disease spreading.
Stratton said the research could in future change the way
cancers are treated -- by using genetic maps to find the defects
that caused them.
"Now that we have these comprehensive complete catalogues of
mutations on individual cancers, we will be able to see how each
cancer developed, what were the exposures, what were the
environmental factors and that's going to be key for our
understanding generally of how cancers develop," he said.
"And for our individual patients, we will see all the genes that
are abnormal and are driving each cancer and that's really
critical, because that will tell us which drugs are likely to have
an effect on that particular cancer and which are not."
Peter Campbell, a cancer-genomics expert involved in the
research, said the number of mutations discovered -- 33,345 for
melanoma -- and 22,910 for lung cancer -- was remarkable.
"It is amazing what you can see in these genomes," he said on
the website of the journal Nature.
The research shows most mutations could be traced to the effects
of chemicals in tobacco smoke (in the lung tumour) or ultraviolet
light (in the melanoma tumour), supporting the idea that they are
largely preventable.
"Every pack of cigarettes is like a game of Russian roulette,"
he said.
"Most of those mutations will land where nothing happens in the
genome and won't do major damage, but every once in a while they'll
hit a cancer gene."
