International Genomic Study Maps Genetic Changes in Lung Cancer

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International Genomic Study Maps Genetic Changes in Lung Cancer

An team of scientists have announced the final results of a systematic effort to map the genomic changes which underly lung cancer. Lung cancer is currently the world's leading cause of cancer deaths.


Their work will appear in the November 4th advance online issue in the journal Nature.

The international led research provides a comprehensive view of the abnormal genetic landscape in lung cancer cells, and reveals more than 50 genomic regions that are frequently gained or lost in human lung tumors.

"This view of the lung cancer genome is unprecedented, both in its breadth and depth," said senior author Matthew Meyerson, a senior associate member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.

"The genomic landscape of lung cancer gives us a systematic picture of this terrible disease, confirming things we know, but also pointing us to many missing pieces of the puzzle," said Eric Lander, one of the study's co-authors and the founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. "More broadly, the study represents a general approach that can and should be used to analyze all types of cancer. Indeed, the study was designed as a pilot project for an even more comprehensive effort to unearth the genetic causes of cancer."

Weir B et al. Characterizing the cancer genome in lung adenocarcinoma. Nature DOI: DOI: 10.1038/nature06358.