European Cancer Genome Project Chips Away At Cancer's Genetic Code

I would like to pause my ongoing series about the IMF's Cancer Patient Statement of Principles and get back to another topic I have been examining regularly over the past months on my other site: www.MultipleMyelomaBlog.Com. Just received this e-mail from a fellow support group member about genetic advances which should soon benefit cancer patients from England. This is pretty important stuff:

In case not all have seen this here is an interesting report in today's
London Times.

Julius Bramley

The complete genetic codes of two human cancers have been mapped for the
first time. The move could herald a medical revolution in which every tumour can be targeted with personalised therapy.

The exhaustive genetic maps, which catalogue every DNA mutation found in two patients' tumours, will transform treatment of the disease. It has been
described as the most significant milestone in cancer research in more than
a decade.

Scientists predict that by about 2020 all cancer patients could have their
tumours analysed to find the genetic defects that drive them. This
information would then be used to select the treatments most likely to work.

Insights from the genomes will also lead to the development of powerful
drugs to target DNA errors that cause cancer and highlight ways in which the disease can be prevented. Cancers would be diagnosed and treated according to their genetic profiles rather than their position in the body.

"The pace at which genomics is moving is probably the most exciting thing
that's gone on in cancer research in more than a decade," said Professor Sir John Bell, President of the Academy of Medical Sciences. "These cancer
genome projects are a major landmark, as significant as the sequencing of
the human genome itself."

The research was led by Professor Mike Stratton, of the Cancer Genome
Project at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge. He said that
the findings would transform the way we see cancer.

"These catalogues of mutations are telling us about how the cancer has
developed, so they will inform us on prevention. They tell us about all the
processes which are disrupted in cancer cells, which we can try to influence through our treatments. So this is a really fundamental moment in the history of cancer research. I can envisage a time a decade or more hence when these catalogues will become routine, and influential in selecting treatment for that individual. That's what we're expecting - every cancer patient will have one of these charts."

Cancer is a disease of the genes. Environmental factors such as smoking,
radiation or alcohol consumption inflict DNA damage that causes cells to
grow out of control.

The new maps, which are published in the journal Nature, plot this genetic
chaos in unprecedented detail for the tumours of two cancer patients. One
had small-cell lung cancer; the second had malignant melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Sir Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust, which funded the research, said: "This is the first glimpse of the future of cancer medicine, not only in the laboratory, but eventually in the clinic. The findings from today will feed into knowledge, methods and practice in patient care."

The catalogues are the first of thousands that are being created by the
International Cancer Genome Consortium, a £600 million project to identify
all the mutations that drive 50 common types of cancer.

The initiative will sequence tumours from 500 patients with each cancer
type, including several forms of breast and liver cancer, and compare the
results with the genetic code of healthy cells. It will reveal which DNA
defects contribute to the onset and spread of cancer, and which are
incidental.

Peter Campbell, of the Sanger Institute, said: "The knowledge we extract
over the next few years will have major implications for treatment. By
identifying all the cancer genes we will be able to develop new drugs that
target the specific mutated genes and work out which patients will benefit
from these novel treatments."

Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, added: "The next step
will be to find out which of these thousands of mutations are just
collateral damage, and which actually drive these cancers. Only then can we
begin to find ways to correct or prevent them. Never before has the
potential of genomics to bring benefits to patients been so apparent."

CASE STUDY

The prospect of genetically mapping individual cancers was given a cautious
welcome today by Tom Haswell, 64 (Lucy Bannerman writes).

When the lung cancer patient was diagnosed with a tumour the size of an
orange in his chest, doctors said he had three to six months to live.

That was 16 years ago. Mr Haswell, who now describes his quality of life as
"totally acceptable", said he hoped the new research will help speed up the
process of finding the right treatment for the right patient.

"The idea of targeting treatment options to one particular kind of cancer
would be brilliant," he said. "I hope it will eliminate the approach many
people face after diagnosis, which is, 'let's try this, and if that doesn't
work, let's try another.'

In his own case, Mr Haswell had to wait three months to be advised of his
treatment options. Eventually, having been informed there were no suitable
chemotherapy drugs and that curative radiotherapy would not be practical,
the retired father of two from Glasgow decided to take part in a drug trial,
which helped shrink the tumour significantly.

"I was told I could take part in the clinical trial or die, basically.

"So, I particularly like the idea of knowing treatment would be
personalised. That would be a great benefit to everyone.

"I would also be interested to know the differences in mutations, for
example, between cancers in smokers and non-smokers. Maybe that will help us
understand why people who have never smoked, also develop the disease."

If shortcuts are found, that could also help prevent patients having to go
through gruelling treatments unnecessarily, Mr Haswell added.

However, he said: "From the point of view of researchers, and clinicians,
this must be the best news they have had all year. "But from a patient
perspective, I treat every new about a breakthrough, or 'wonder drug' with
caution. These things take years to develop, so it is not going to have any
benefit for today's lung cancer patient."

Long, but interesting. You can find lots of information about two similar cancer related genetic study programs, Bank On A Cure and the Genomics Initiative at www.MultipleMyelomaBlog.Com.

Feel good and keep smiling! Pat