Researchers have mapped the genetic blueprint of two of the deadliest forms of cancer, detailing the mutations that lead to tumors of the pancreas and brain.
The work suggests that the genetic causes of cancer are even more complex than previously thought and highlights the difficulty of developing new drug treatments. However, it also points toward new avenues of research for treatments and diagnostic tests.
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center examined DNA from 22 patients’ brain tumors and 24 patients’ pancreatic tumors.
The type of brain tumor studied, called glioblastoma multiforme, affects some 20,000 Americans each year — including, most famously, Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy — and the median survival time is between 7 and 17 months. Some 38,000 Americans are diagnosed each year with pancreatic cancer, with a survival rate of only about 5 percent.
In two studies published this week in the journal Science, the researchers sequenced the DNA of more than 20,000 genes in each of the tumor cells. They found that the typical glioblastoma contained about 60 mutations, and the average pancreatic tumor contained 63. However, no two patients had the exact same set of mutations.
“If you have 100 patients, you have 100 different diseases,” said Johns Hopkins researcher Bert Vogelstein, one of the authors of the papers.
I try to remember to pray for cancer researchers in my daily prayers–it is important.
I appreciate that, Kendall. My father died of pancreatic cancer in 2000; an uncle died of a brain tumor in 1987. Both were horrible, cruel diseases, causing intense pain in the former and loss of vision and bodily control in the latter.
A beautiful, talented young woman in our church is enduring repetitive surgery and radiation treatment for thyroid cancer. According to her physicians, this cancer will be chronic. Not only do I pray for a cure for this lovely child, but also for her and her mother’s continued strength and endurance.