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New Discovery Offers Hope for Breast Cancer Cure
The researchers completed the world's first sequencing of the billions of letters in the DNA of a female cancer patient at three different stages, in just weeks. The feat was reported as the cover story in the October 8 edition of the science journal Nature.
Showing that cancer evolves "will lead to a shift in perspective" in how cancer is treated, lead researcher Samuel Aparicio of Canada's British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA) told AFP.
When a cell divides as a normal and lifelong process, the DNA genetic code is copied to each new cell. When mutations cause the new cells to grow out of control, cancer can occur, noted the agency in a statement.
Researchers tracked mutations in the woman's healthy cells, in addition to a local tumour when her breast cancer was first diagnosed, and in cells nine years later after the cancer spread, or metastasized.
In the metastasized cells they found 32 DNA mutations, said Aparicio.
"When we looked back to see if they were present in the primary tumour, we found only five mutations that could have been present in all cells."
That just five of the 32 later mutations were originally present was a surprise, the BCCA said.
The mutations -- which they described as "spelling" mistakes in the DNA lettering -- were "the criminals that caused the disease to get started in the first place," the BCCA said. "These five mutations were previously unknown to researchers as playing a role in cancer."
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More News on: Women and Cancer, Breast Biopsy, Pagets disease of the breast, Mastitis, Cancer and Homeopathy, Breast Cancer Facts, Cancer Facts, Cancer, Tattoos A Body Art, Breasts - Structures and Types
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