a current event
article
by Skin cancer and lung cancer are two of the most common types of cancers plaguing mankind. Researchers are at the cusp of a new age in detection, prevention and treatment of these ailments along with potentially more now that the entire genome of both cancer strains has been mapped. Professor Michael Stratton, leading the UK team says, “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.” The research has revealed that the cancers are triggered by the introduction of mutations – approximately 30,000 for melanoma and 20,000 for lung cancer. It was determined that each cigarette could introduce up to 15 gene mutations, a sort of Russian Roulette regarding where the mutations may fall; but with the mapped genome, scientists can determine a person’s susceptibility or “progress” towards developing cancer.
Similarly tagged OmniNerd content:
- Why a Health Nut Is Against a Soda Tax, by Brandon 4 months ago
- Single and Unhappy Married Men Likely to Die, by VnutZ 6 months ago
- Fat is Neither Created or Destroyed, by VnutZ over 2 years ago
- 8 Glasses a Day Down the Drain, by gnifyus over 2 years ago
Print Friendly
Write an Article
Cancer Research by JyroBritanniac :: NR5 :: Show
New discoveries are always amazing in my book. Just a minor correction though,
“From this, the experts estimate a typical smoker acquires one new mutation for every 15 cigarettes they smoke. "
If it were said the other way though more people might quit smoking, but probably not. Having a father which died of melanoma, this study fascinates me, and I look forward to where this research leads, thank you for the article.
I'd love to see them by ldsudduth :: NR7 :: Show
Map the genomes for the number one and number two killer cancers next:
Pancreatic and Gastric.
Something I saw on the news last night over dinner (CNN—thank you for closed captioning) was that by mapping the genomes, they could theoretically detect the mutations in the blood, leading to much earlier detection. Since Pancreatic Cancer has no really effective early detecition methods (and is extremely aggressive) then perhaps we can find an effective early detection method and a have a better survival rate. The same holds true for gastric.
Just my personal bias, my wife lost her father to pancreatic cancer almost three years ago, and I lost my grandfather 21 years ago to gastric cancer.