Tag Archives: cancer genome



One genome at a time: Mapping the cancer battlefield

Patients and families turn to genomic medicine to treat cancer

Most of us probably associate being sick with the entire body- a fever, aches, chills and other broad symptoms. When it comes to a disease like cancer, we might take an organizational step or two down to think of a specific organ or tissue: breast, lung or brain cancer.

But increasingly, patient’s stories point clearly toward a finer resolution of cancer diagnosis, down to the level of a single gene. A report in the New York Times last week describes how a team of researchers worked to identify the genetic aberration underlying a colleague’s cancer, and helped treat his leukemia with an off-label drug currently used to treat kidney cancers.

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Chromatin clustering may hold cancer clues

Transcriptional regulators can change the way chromatin loops group together

Something like the image above is probably what comes to mind first when you hear ‘chromatin structure’. In reality, DNA spends only a small portion of time in these tightly coiled chromosomes. Most chromatin within cells lies in diffuse strands within nuclei. Mapping the locations of genes on these strands, scientists have found that chromatin containing more actively expressed genes tends to cluster together, as do chromatin strands containing inactive genes. Now, two recent papers show that these specific arrangements of chromatin may hold clues to developing targeted drugs for diseases like cancer. Read more…

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The (long and winding) road to personalized medicine

The Cancer Genome Atlas maps genomic changes in ovarian adenocarcinoma

Popping an aspirin cures headaches for nearly everyone regardless of their DNA, but some drugs only work on patients with specific genetic profiles. Herceptin, for example, is effective only in breast cancer patients whose tumors over-express the HER-2 gene, and Gleevec is specifically designed to inhibit an altered enzyme form in leukemia. Several other such drugs, designed for specific gene forms or expression patterns, are currently in use. Understanding the genetic profile of complex diseases like cancer is the first step towards designing more effective therapies.
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