Cancer Breakthrough

Scientists have for the first time identified all the changes in the cells of two deadly cancers to produce the entire cancer gene maps and believe that the discovery marks a ‘‘transforming moment’’ in their understanding of cancer. The studies, conducted by international scientists and Britain’s Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, are the first comprehensive descriptions of mutations of tumour cells and decode the genetic changes behind melanoma skin cancer and lung cancer. The scientists sequenced all the DNA from both tumour tissue and normal tissue from a melanoma patient and a lung cancer patient by using a technology called ‘‘massively parallel sequencing’’, and after comparing the cancer sequences with healthy ones, they were able to identify all the changes specific to cancer. This is a major breakthrough in cancer research. As one of the leading scientists, Mike Stratton, of the Sanger Institute has pointed out, the ‘‘catalogues of mutation are telling us about how the cancer has developed — so they will inform us on prevention — and they include all the drivers, which tell us about the processes that are disrupted in the cancer cell which we can try and influence through our treatments’’. So will cancer drugs be now available, saving the lives of millions across the world? This will take several years, as the scientists have inferred. The mystery as to why certain cells become cancerous is still a huge challenge for scientists to crack. But what is remarkable is that, thanks to advancements in the genome mapping technology, in the future doctors may have a complete genome catalogue for each cancer patient so that they choose the right treatment course. Let us all wait for that rare medicine moment. THE SENTINEL