Failures In Chromosome Protection Linked To Cancer For The First Time
Date: 8.4.2013
Medical News Today 21 March 2013: A study published in the journal Nature Genetics explores a new mechanism that may contribute to the development of several tumours, including Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia, a type of cancer that affects more than a thousand new patients in Spain each year.
his work, led by researchers Carlos López-Otín, from the University Institute of Oncology at the University of Oviedo; Elías Campo, from the Hospital Clínic/University of Barcelona; and María Blasco, the Director of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), represents a significant milestone for the Spanish Consortium in the study of the Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia Genome.
"Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia is the most frequent leukaemia in Western countries," says López-Otín, adding that, "Once the most frequent genetic and epigenetic changes in its development have been decoded, it's necessary to discover the biochemical mechanisms altered by those changes, in order to be able to improve the diagnosis and treatment of this disease."
Thus, continuing the work from previous studies led by Campo and López-Otín published in Nature and Nature Genetics over the past two years, the researchers concentrated on the mutations affecting POT1, one of the genes involved in the protection of the ends of chromosomes, the telomeres...
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