Order Matters: Sequence Of Genetic Mutations Determines How Cancer Behaves
Monday, February 16, 2015 - 17:10
in Health & Medicine
The order in which genetic mutations are acquired determines how an individual cancer behaves, according to research from the University of Cambridge, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Most of the genetic mutations that cause cancer result from environmental 'damage' (for example, through smoking or as a result of over-exposure to sunlight) or from spontaneous errors as cells divide. In a study published today, researchers at the Department of Haematology, the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research and the Wellcome Trust/Medical Research Council Stem Cell Institute show for the first time that the order in which such mutations occur can have an impact on disease severity and response to therapy. read more