Health & Medicine
Gene Mutations Reveal Biological Workings of Most Common Type of Childhood Leukaemia
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Aug 14, 2014 11:36 AM EDT
Leukemia remains the most common type of cancer among children and teens. Estimates show that this health issue accounts for about 1 out of 3 cancers.
Now, recent findings published in the journal Nature Communications examine recently discovered gene mutations that lead to acute lymphoblastic leukemia--the most common type found in children. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London believe that analyzation of these genes could carry the potential to learn more about the disease and possible future treatments.
For the study, researchers analyzed a group of children's DNA sequences at different stages of leukemia. All of the study participants had Down's syndrome, as this health issue increases the risk of childhood leukemias by 20 to 50 times the rate of children born without the genetic condition.
Researchers uncovered two key genes called RAS and JAK that mutate normal blood cells into cancerous ones. However, the two cells never mutate together, as one typically excludes the other.
Findings bring hope for new and more effective treatments that target patients' cancer in lower doses and reduce overall toxicity. The study is also a tremendous step forward in determining the biological makeup of the health issue, according to researchers
"We believe our findings are a breakthrough in understanding the underlying causes of leukaemia and eventually we hope to design more tailored and effective treatment for this cancer, with less toxic drugs and less side-effects," concluded Dean Nizetic, Professor of Cellular and Molecular Biology at Queen Mary University of London, and Professor of Molecular Medicine at Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Singapore, in a news release. "This could benefit all children affected by the disease and potentially even cut the number of side effect-related deaths."
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First Posted: Aug 14, 2014 11:36 AM EDT
Leukemia remains the most common type of cancer among children and teens. Estimates show that this health issue accounts for about 1 out of 3 cancers.
Now, recent findings published in the journal Nature Communications examine recently discovered gene mutations that lead to acute lymphoblastic leukemia--the most common type found in children. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London believe that analyzation of these genes could carry the potential to learn more about the disease and possible future treatments.
For the study, researchers analyzed a group of children's DNA sequences at different stages of leukemia. All of the study participants had Down's syndrome, as this health issue increases the risk of childhood leukemias by 20 to 50 times the rate of children born without the genetic condition.
Researchers uncovered two key genes called RAS and JAK that mutate normal blood cells into cancerous ones. However, the two cells never mutate together, as one typically excludes the other.
Findings bring hope for new and more effective treatments that target patients' cancer in lower doses and reduce overall toxicity. The study is also a tremendous step forward in determining the biological makeup of the health issue, according to researchers
"We believe our findings are a breakthrough in understanding the underlying causes of leukaemia and eventually we hope to design more tailored and effective treatment for this cancer, with less toxic drugs and less side-effects," concluded Dean Nizetic, Professor of Cellular and Molecular Biology at Queen Mary University of London, and Professor of Molecular Medicine at Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Singapore, in a news release. "This could benefit all children affected by the disease and potentially even cut the number of side effect-related deaths."
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone