Dozens of new cancer genes found

[aftabac]

Dozens of new cancer genes found
Genome sweep shows cancer-driving mutations more common than thought.
The range of mutations that can drive cancer growth could be much wider than thought. An international research effort called the Cancer Genome Project has identified around 120 new genes that contain mutations promoting the disease.

"This is a lot more cancer genes than we expected to find

The researchers used data generated by the human genome project to sift through a family of 500 genes, called kinase genes, linked to cell growth and division. Defects in some of these genes have already been linked to cancer.

Using cell samples from 210 different types of cancer, they searched for mutations in the genes of these cells that are not present in those of non-cancerous cells. They found more than 1,000 cancer-specific mutations, of which around 150 are thought to be 'driver' genes, which trigger the rampant growth of cancer cells. The researchers report their findings in this week's Nature1.

References
1. Greenman C., et al. Nature, 446 . 153 - 158 (2007).

best regards
aftab ahmad

[amitpande74]

Dear Aftab,
Have you ever wondered why the Human Heart has no cancer causing genes?


regards,
Amit.

[admin]

Yes that is a good question Amit! Welcome to the forums

In class that came up. It is due to the fact that the turnover of cells in the heart is very very low. That is the cells of the heart do not need to be replaced very often.

This is in contrast to gut cells in the colon, kidney, and skin where cells are replenished quite quickly. Interestingly, cancers are more frequently found in quickly dividing cells than slower ones.

Cheers!