Multiple myeloma genome unveiled
Scientists have unveiled the most comprehensive picture to date of the full genetic blueprint of multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer. A study of the genomes from 38 cancer samples has yielded new and unexpected insights into the events that lead to this form of cancer and could influence the direction of multiple myeloma research. This work, led by Harvard-affiliated scientists at the Broad Institute and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, appears in the March 24 issue of Nature. Multiple myeloma is the second most common blood cancer in the United States, and about 20,000 new cases are diagnosed in this country every year. The disease’s five-year survival rate is less than 40 percent, which is low compared with other forms of cancer. Multiple myeloma begins in the bone marrow, where plasma cells (a type of white blood cell) become malignant, crowding out normal cells and attacking solid bone. No one knows...