據(jù)BBC 8月14日的報道稱,，英國癌癥研究中心的科學(xué)家對癌癥研究已進(jìn)入一個新的里程碑,。目前已分析了21種癌癥,，其在健康組織中逐漸癌化的基因突變過程,。這一研究的意義體現(xiàn)在能夠讓科學(xué)家更加了解癌癥的遺傳物質(zhì)特征，從而可以開發(fā)出更好的癌癥治療方法,。
目前已知有200多種癌癥,，光英國每天就有890人被確證為癌癥患者,。
找出導(dǎo)致突變的原因可找到新的治療方法。如吸煙是引起的癌癥已知的,，但是一半以上的癌癥病因仍是一個謎,。
英國癌癥研究中心說,，這是一個有趣和重要的研究。
相關(guān)英文報道
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."
