23 July 2012
The genetic mutations underlying colon and rectal cancer are so similar
that these cancers should be classified as one disease, a study suggests. Researchers
analysed over 200 tumour samples and also identified genes that could serve as
targets for future drug treatments.
Dr Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health which
funded the research, said that the team had revealed 'the true genetic
nature of colon and rectal cancers' and this was 'an important achievement in
our quest to understand the foundations of this disease'.
Scientists working with the
international Cancer Genome Atlas Network sequenced the exomes - the protein-coding
portions of all the genes in the genome - of the tumour samples. They were able
to reveal which genes and signalling pathways are often abnormal in colorectal
cancer and identified new genes which may be important in the cancer's
development, as well as confirming existing key players.
Such information may change
treatment strategies in colorectal cancer. For example, one of the genes, ERBB2, that the
researchers associated with colorectal cancer is also mutated in some types of
breast cancer. Patients with this type of breast cancer respond well to the
drug Herceptin and so this drug may be effective in colorectal cancer. Clinical trials would be needed to confirm this.
The study also highlighted genetic
factors that may influence the likelihood of surviving the disease. Earlier
research had already highlighted an association between a cancer's
aggressiveness and hypermutation - an abnormally high rate of genetic mutation.
After relating their findings to the according patient outcomes the authors
concluded that mutation rate might be a better indicator of survival than the
one currently used.
Speaking to The New York Times, Dr Charles Fuchs, a
gastrointestinal cancer expert at Harvard University and co-author on the study,
said that translation of the study's findings into clinical practice 'is going to take time, and it is
going to take effort', but added: 'I
don’t want to minimise the singular importance of this paper. It is
transformative'.
SOURCES & REFERENCES
|
|
|
Nature
|
18 July 2012
|
|
|
|
New York Times
|
18 July 2012
|
|
|
|
GenomeWeb (subscription)
|
18 July 2012
|
|
|
|
The Cancer Genome Atlas (press release)
|
18 July 2012
|
RELATED ARTICLES FROM THE BIONEWS ARCHIVE
|
|
| 24 March 2014 - by Daryl Ramai |
| A stool-sample DNA test has detected 92 percent of colon cancers in a large clinical trial, compared to 74 percent picked up by the most commonly used non-invasive test... |
|
|
| 21 October 2013 - by Dr Naqash Raja |
| Common gene mutations link 12 cancer types such as blood, colon and kidney, research from Washington University School of Medicine, USA, has shown... |
|
|
| 7 May 2013 - by Suzanne Elvidge |
| Genetic analysis of tumours provides the key to treating them effectively, according to two studies carried out by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA).... |
|
|
| 29 October 2012 - by Rivka Marks-Maran |
| Thousands of genetic mutations associated with pancreatic cancer have been identified in an international study... |
|
|
| 29 October 2012 - by Purvi Shah |
| Regular use of aspirin may extend the lives of colon cancer patients whose tumour carries a specific gene mutation, scientists report... |
|
|
| 19 December 2011 - by Sarah Pritchard |
| A gene known as deleted colorectal carcinoma (DCC) could safeguard against the development of the colorectal cancer by inducing a process called apoptosis, or cell death... |
|
|
| 7 June 2010 - by Dr Sophie Pryor |
| US scientists have identified a region of DNA, which may contain a novel gene responsible for the progression and spread of colorectal (bowel) cancer.... |
|
|
| 1 March 2010 - by Rose Palmer |
| A personalised blood test that could track how a tumour responds to treatment and whether cancer is recurring has been developed by researchers in the U.S... |
|
|
| 28 September 2009 - by Dr Will Fletcher |
| Scientists in the UK have found that a daily dose of aspirin may halve the chance of men with Lynch Syndrome developing colon cancer, one of the three most common cancers in developed countries. Lynch Syndrome is an inherited condition, which increases vulnerability to cancers of the colon, rectum, stomach, brain, liver, womb and elsewhere. Whilst the syndrome only accounts for five per cent of all colon cancer cases, the new findings are significant because men with the condition normally ha... |
|
|
| 8 May 2005 - by BioNews |
| All colon cancer tumours should be screened for genetic mutations associated with an inherited form of the disease, say US researchers. The team, based at the Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center, say that colon tumours should be tested after surgery, to identify patients and relatives who might benefit from genetic... |
