癌症病变基因研究的里程碑——探索癌症起源

 关键词： 癌症起源 英国 癌症

据BBC 8月14日的报道称，英国癌症研究中心的科学家对癌症研究已进入一个新的里程碑。目前已分析了21种癌症，其在健康组织中逐渐癌化的基因突变过程。这一研究的意义体现在能够让科学家更加了解癌症的遗传物质特征，从而可以开发出更好的癌症治疗方法。

目前已知有200多种癌症，光英国每天就有890人被确证为癌症患者。

找出导致突变的原因可找到新的治疗方法。如吸烟是引起的癌症已知的，但是一半以上的癌症病因仍是一个谜。

英国癌症研究中心说，这是一个有趣和重要的研究。

相关英文报道

Scientists are reporting a significant milestone for cancer research after charting 21 major mutations behind the vast majority of tumours.

The disruptive changes to the genetic code, reported in Nature, accounted for 97% of the 30 most common cancers.

Finding out what causes the mutations could lead to new treatments. Some, such as smoking are known, but more than half are still a mystery.

Cancer Research UK said it was a fascinating ａnd important study.

A tumour starts when one of the building blocks of bodies, a cell, goes wrong. Over the course of a lifetime cells pick up an array of mutations which can eventually transform them into deadly tumours which grow uncontrollably.

Cancer origins
The international team of researchers was looking for the causes of those mutations as part of the largest-ever analysis of cancer genomes.

The well-known ones such as UV damage ａnd smoking mutate the DNA, increasing the odds of cancer.

But each also leaves behind a unique hallmark - a piece of "genetic graffiti" - that shows if smoking or UV radiation has mutated the DNA.

Researchers, led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK, hunted for more examples of "graffiti" in 7,042 samples taken from the 30 most common cancers.

The found that 21 separate "graffiti signatures" could account for 97% of the mutations which led to cancer.

Prof Sir Mike Stratton, the director of the Sanger Institute, told the BBC: "I＇m very excited. Hidden within the cancer genome are these patterns, these signatures, which tell us what is actually causing cancer in the first place - that＇s a major insight to have.

"It is quite a significant achievement for cancer research, this is quite profound. It＇s taking us into areas of unknown that we didn＇t know existed before.

"I think this is a major milestone."