By IANS
New York : A comprehensive view of the altered genetic background of the type of lung cancer that is the most common cause of cancer deaths in humans has been revealed by scientists.
The scientists, part of an international group, however, said that analysis indicates that many of the genes that play a role in the diseases are yet to be discovered.
Lung adenocarcinoma, the topic of the study, is the most common cause of lung cancer worldwide.
The group’s findings have been posted in an advance online publication in the journal Nature.
“This view of the lung cancer genome is unprecedented, both in its breadth and depth,” said senior author Matthew Meyerson of the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
“It lays an essential foundation, and has already pinpointed an important gene that controls the growth of lung cells. This information offers crucial inroads to the biology of lung cancer and will help shape new strategies for cancer diagnosis and therapy.”
Each year, more than one million people worldwide die of lung cancer.
“This study illustrates the value in using high through-put sequencing and microarray analysis to understand the fundamental properties of tumors at the molecular level,” said Richard Gibbs of the Baylor College of Medicine’s (BCM) Human Genome Sequencing Center.
“The identification of this gene demonstrates the power of copy number analysis using arrays (or gene chips).”