600 cancer vulnerabilities discovered: Now, researchers are working on new tumor killers
With the help of the Genschere Crispr, an international team of researchers took the DNA of 300 tumors from 30 different types of cancer apart. You found the 600 to be targets for the development of new drugs is worth: tumor killer, the healthy tissue sparing.
With the analysis of genes, the researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute. In the vicinity of Cambridge is decrypted for almost 30 years, the human genome down to the last Detail. An important aspect of the work, the unraveling of pathological DNA.
30 Types Of Cancer, 6000 Survival Genes, 600 Vulnerabilities
Now a 25-member international team of researchers under the auspices of the Wellcome Sanger Institute, has taken the genetic Information in the cells of 30 different types of cancer apart. You stripped for 20,000 genes from more than 300 laboratory-grown tumors in their individual parts. They found 6000 genes, the cancer cells need to Survive and a total of 600 vulnerabilities of cancer. Every single one of them would be suitable for a targeted drug used to destroy the cancer cells and healthy cells are spared.
For the Gen-disassembly, the researchers took advantage of the Genschere Crispr. This technology allows changes in the genome, by Genetic information, or a gene segment incorporated can be exchanged. Without this new method, the present work would not have been possible at all, which was presented in the journal “Nature”.
New drugs to attack the cancer-weak
The gigantic genetic analysis is seen as an important contribution to a targeted, personalized cancer treatment. The exact active ingredient attack of tumors and cancer cells is the long-sought Alternative to today’s Standard. Because the entire body is overwhelmed with cellular toxins, numerous healthy cells to destroy.
Of the 6000 survival genes important for cancer cells are not suitable as a drug target, because they are also needed by healthy cells. For others, there are already targeted agents, such as Herceptin against breast cancer.
At the end of the 600 remained promising targets, for which there is, according to the study authors worthwhile to develop new drugs.
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One of the most worthwhile goals bears the strange name of “Werner syndrome, RecQ helicase” (WRN). The mutated Werner Gene, keeps cancer cells alive, the researchers found. WRN is involved, for example, 15 percent of colon cancer and 28 percent of stomach cancer.
All of the vulnerabilities of all types of cancer at a glance
The study also contributes to the so-called “Cancer Dependency Map”. In this cancer-map all vulnerabilities of all types of cancer together. Based on this information, the Doctors one day could use the personalized drug targeted against the cancer of each patient.
The author of the study, Fiona Behan put it gegegnüber the BBC martial: “We are to understand what is going on in a cancer cell. So we can not set up our machine gun against the cancer cells against the whole body, as chemotherapy is currently the case.“
Other cancer physicians, the extensive study see something more sober as a good starting point for the analysis of the genes that the researchers identified as weak points of cancer. Whether and how many medications can be on this Basis in the future, it remains to be seen.
