Manage to decode genes of a person with cancer

It was for the first time and is another step toward personalized therapy. A group of researchers succeeded for the first time decode all the genes of a person with cancer, a woman between 50 and 60 years who died of acute myelogenous leukemia. So found two genetic mutations associated with this disease, but also with the other eight who never had a partner. The study, published yesterday in Nature, was conducted at Washington University in St. Louis. What drove Richard Wilson, director of the Center for sequencing equipment sequences Genoma.El genes in a sample of normal tissue of the skin of women, as well as the genes of their tumor cells, taken from the spinal cord. We sought the genetic mutations that triggered the development of this type of leukemia (see "A ..."). It is believed that only between 5 and 10% of cancers are hereditary. "The initial mutations in cancer cells genes that encode impact on growth regulators, Clarin said Dr. Daniel Alonso, co-director of the Laboratory of Molecular Oncology at the National University of Quilmes. If they are damaged, the cell starts to grow , And thus neglects to signals that lead to fulfilling a normal function inside the body. " Of the eight new mutations found, three normally act to suppress tumor growth, four are involved in promoting cell growth, and affect how drugs penetrate the cells. The researchers believe that the mutations occurred one after another, each one closer to the cell to divide uncontrollably. The scientists also analyzed samples from 187 other patients with acute myelogenous leukemia, but none had any of these eight new mutations. "This suggests that there is a tremendous diversity in cancer genetics," Wilson noted. And that diversity is even higher in solid tumors. While considered on the direct reach of this finding, Alonso points out that "studies like this show that a gene that had been abandoned in the investigations, ends up being important in predicting response to therapy. I could explain the mechanism of resistance to drugs and, therefore, also the therapeutic failure in patients. " Wilson expects the next 5 to 20 years, the DNA sequence of cancer patients is to put a few drops of blood on a chip, insert it into a PC and in return receive a report with the most effective medication for each person .