Wednesday, March 27, 2013 7:11:47 PM
Study unravels genetic jigsaw of hormone cancers
Thursday, 28 March 2013 Stephen Pincock
ABC
The gene haul includes 49 new genetic susceptibility regions
for breast cancer, 26 for prostate cancer and eight for
ovarian cancer(Source: haydenbird/iStockphoto)
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Study identifies pancreatic cancer genes, Science Online, 25 Oct 2012
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/10/25/3618342.htm
Breast cancer risk: not all in the family, Science Online, 01 Nov 2011
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/11/01/3353163.htm
Gene sweeps nets female cancer clues, Science Online, 20 Sep 2010
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/09/20/3016266.htm
New cancer treatments and better methods for cancer screening could emerge from a huge new international study that has revealed more of the genetic underpinnings of breast, prostate and ovarian cancers.
Scientists in the Collaborative Oncological Gene-environment Study (COGS) have identified more than 70 new genetic regions linked with the three types of hormone-related cancers.
Their findings, published in 13 papers, roughly double the number of genetic regions that scientists know to be associated with these cancers, which together affect more than 2.5 million people each year.
Crucially, many of the genes identified in the study appear to affect more than one type of cancer. This means it may be possible to develop treatments that will combat several different cancers, says cancer geneticist John Witte from the University of California, San Francisco .. http://www.ucsf.edu/ .
"While the current findings do not immediately change the clinical treatment for any of these cancers, they do get us closer to this ultimate goal," says Witte, who wrote a commentary on the results this week in the journal Nature Genetics .. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2613 .
"Now we have a very large number of genetic variants clearly associated with risk of cancers, and a number of these impact more than one cancer. These findings may help clarify the most optimal screening, biology, and treatment for different cancers."
Genetic overlap
The COGS researchers began by analysing data from multiple earlier 'genome-wide association studies' that had linked particular genetic variations with cancer risk in tens of thousands of patients.
They then used 211,000 of those promising genetic markers to design a custom genotyping array - a tool for identifying the presence of particular genetic sequences - and used it to test samples from more than 200,000 cancer patients and controls.
The findings include 49 new genetic susceptibility regions for breast cancer, 26 for prostate cancer and eight for ovarian cancer. The results also include susceptibility genes for the cancers in specific populations, such as individuals with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations.
The exact functions of most of the genes identified remains to be uncovered, but already some important trends have emerged that could lead to improved treatments.
Among the most notable findings was the genetic overlap among cancers. Such overlaps point directly at the mechanisms that initiate the cancer-forming process in these three hormone-related cancers.
"This is one of the most exciting aspects of this work," says Witte. If those mechanisms are shared among cancers, treatments for one cancer might also prove successful for other cancers as well.
"Instead of categorising cancers as distinct diseases, we may have great research and treatment success in studying the similarities across cancers," he says.
Dr Georgia Chevenix-Trench, from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research .. http://www.qimr.edu.au/ , agrees.
"It's important to note that any one of these regions could become a new drug target that is effective for either prevention or treatment of these common cancers," says Chevenix-Trench, one of several Australian researchers involved in the project.
And the findings are just the tip of the iceberg, she says.
"In breast cancer, for example there is good evidence that there may be up to 10,000 loci that confer risk that the study wasn't statistically powerful enough to study."
Screening improvements
The results may also help the fight against cancer by improving screening, say the study authors
Researchers are already working on ways to stratify the cancer risk of individuals based on inherited genetic variants. Such tests might first be used in people who are already at high risk of disease, such as women for example who have BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. In years to come they could be used more widely.
"It's always hard to guess timelines but I would think that within five to 10 years it might be being used commonly," says Dr Paul Pharoah, lead author of one of the ovarian cancer studies .. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.2564 .. from the University of Cambridge.
Full details of all the papers can be found on the Nature website .. http://www.nature.com/icogs .
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/03/28/3725118.htm
See also:
US patent on cannabinoids
US patent number 6,630,507, "Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants", was filed in 2001 and was granted in 2003. The patent, assigned to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, states:
------
“ "Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, unrelated to NMDA receptor antagonism. This new found property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia." ”
------
The patent asserts cannabinoids are shown to help in treating stroke, heart attack, inflammation, and autoimmune disorders.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoid#US_patent_on_cannabinoids
If marijuana is reclassified in the U.S., then the drug war could be de-escalated and more serious
science can be applied. There are so many cannabanoid compounds in marijuana, hundreds
actually, that many of them and in segregated combinations have not been studied in depth.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=86135726
Thursday, 28 March 2013 Stephen Pincock
ABC
The gene haul includes 49 new genetic susceptibility regions
for breast cancer, 26 for prostate cancer and eight for
ovarian cancer(Source: haydenbird/iStockphoto)
Related Stories
Study identifies pancreatic cancer genes, Science Online, 25 Oct 2012
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/10/25/3618342.htm
Breast cancer risk: not all in the family, Science Online, 01 Nov 2011
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/11/01/3353163.htm
Gene sweeps nets female cancer clues, Science Online, 20 Sep 2010
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/09/20/3016266.htm
New cancer treatments and better methods for cancer screening could emerge from a huge new international study that has revealed more of the genetic underpinnings of breast, prostate and ovarian cancers.
Scientists in the Collaborative Oncological Gene-environment Study (COGS) have identified more than 70 new genetic regions linked with the three types of hormone-related cancers.
Their findings, published in 13 papers, roughly double the number of genetic regions that scientists know to be associated with these cancers, which together affect more than 2.5 million people each year.
Crucially, many of the genes identified in the study appear to affect more than one type of cancer. This means it may be possible to develop treatments that will combat several different cancers, says cancer geneticist John Witte from the University of California, San Francisco .. http://www.ucsf.edu/ .
"While the current findings do not immediately change the clinical treatment for any of these cancers, they do get us closer to this ultimate goal," says Witte, who wrote a commentary on the results this week in the journal Nature Genetics .. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2613 .
"Now we have a very large number of genetic variants clearly associated with risk of cancers, and a number of these impact more than one cancer. These findings may help clarify the most optimal screening, biology, and treatment for different cancers."
Genetic overlap
The COGS researchers began by analysing data from multiple earlier 'genome-wide association studies' that had linked particular genetic variations with cancer risk in tens of thousands of patients.
They then used 211,000 of those promising genetic markers to design a custom genotyping array - a tool for identifying the presence of particular genetic sequences - and used it to test samples from more than 200,000 cancer patients and controls.
The findings include 49 new genetic susceptibility regions for breast cancer, 26 for prostate cancer and eight for ovarian cancer. The results also include susceptibility genes for the cancers in specific populations, such as individuals with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations.
The exact functions of most of the genes identified remains to be uncovered, but already some important trends have emerged that could lead to improved treatments.
Among the most notable findings was the genetic overlap among cancers. Such overlaps point directly at the mechanisms that initiate the cancer-forming process in these three hormone-related cancers.
"This is one of the most exciting aspects of this work," says Witte. If those mechanisms are shared among cancers, treatments for one cancer might also prove successful for other cancers as well.
"Instead of categorising cancers as distinct diseases, we may have great research and treatment success in studying the similarities across cancers," he says.
Dr Georgia Chevenix-Trench, from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research .. http://www.qimr.edu.au/ , agrees.
"It's important to note that any one of these regions could become a new drug target that is effective for either prevention or treatment of these common cancers," says Chevenix-Trench, one of several Australian researchers involved in the project.
And the findings are just the tip of the iceberg, she says.
"In breast cancer, for example there is good evidence that there may be up to 10,000 loci that confer risk that the study wasn't statistically powerful enough to study."
Screening improvements
The results may also help the fight against cancer by improving screening, say the study authors
Researchers are already working on ways to stratify the cancer risk of individuals based on inherited genetic variants. Such tests might first be used in people who are already at high risk of disease, such as women for example who have BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. In years to come they could be used more widely.
"It's always hard to guess timelines but I would think that within five to 10 years it might be being used commonly," says Dr Paul Pharoah, lead author of one of the ovarian cancer studies .. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng.2564 .. from the University of Cambridge.
Full details of all the papers can be found on the Nature website .. http://www.nature.com/icogs .
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/03/28/3725118.htm
See also:
US patent on cannabinoids
US patent number 6,630,507, "Cannabinoids as antioxidants and neuroprotectants", was filed in 2001 and was granted in 2003. The patent, assigned to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, states:
------
“ "Cannabinoids have been found to have antioxidant properties, unrelated to NMDA receptor antagonism. This new found property makes cannabinoids useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases, such as ischemic, age-related, inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The cannabinoids are found to have particular application as neuroprotectants, for example in limiting neurological damage following ischemic insults, such as stroke and trauma, or in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and HIV dementia." ”
------
The patent asserts cannabinoids are shown to help in treating stroke, heart attack, inflammation, and autoimmune disorders.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoid#US_patent_on_cannabinoids
If marijuana is reclassified in the U.S., then the drug war could be de-escalated and more serious
science can be applied. There are so many cannabanoid compounds in marijuana, hundreds
actually, that many of them and in segregated combinations have not been studied in depth.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=86135726
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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