Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have generated the first analysis of a malignant melanoma and a lung cancer genome. The results reveal nearly all the mutations in each of the genomes, providing powerful insights into the biology of cancer. It is hoped that this will increase the understanding of the causes and improve prevention, detection and treatment.
Researchers have learned that all cancers are caused by mutations in the DNA of cancer cells which are acquired during a person's lifetime. This research shows all of the mutations in the genomes of two cancers, lung cancer malignant melanoma.
In lung cancer the number of mutations found suggest that a typical smoker would acquire one mutation for every 15 cigarettes smoked.
Malignant melanoma is diagnosed in less than 5 percent of skin cancer cases, but is the cause of three out of four skin cancer deaths. The melanoma genome contained more than 30,000 mutations that carried a record of how and when they occurred during the patient's life.
As the two cancers that have a known primary cause; lung cancer and cigarette smoke and melanoma with sun exposure, it is hoped that greater understanding of how the genome attempts to defend against the mutations as well as finding the mutations before they become tumors.
Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have generated the first analysis of a malignant melanoma and a lung cancer genome. The results reveal nearly all the mutations in each of the genomes, providing powerful insights into the biology of cancer. It is hoped that this will increase the understanding of the causes and improve prevention, detection and treatment.
Researchers have learned that all cancers are caused by mutations in the DNA of cancer cells which are acquired during a person's lifetime. This research shows all of the mutations in the genomes of two cancers, lung cancer malignant melanoma.
In lung cancer the number of mutations found suggest that a typical smoker would acquire one mutation for every 15 cigarettes smoked.
Malignant melanoma is diagnosed in less than 5 percent of skin cancer cases, but is the cause of three out of four skin cancer deaths. The melanoma genome contained more than 30,000 mutations that carried a record of how and when they occurred during the patient's life.
As the two cancers that have a known primary cause; lung cancer and cigarette smoke and melanoma with sun exposure, it is hoped that greater understanding of how the genome attempts to defend against the mutations as well as finding the mutations before they become tumors.