基因突变 z-bo 2020-09-23 356

　　At what age will you get cancer? The number of mutations in different genes in the human body may advance this date.

　　People already know that mutations in cancer genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2 increase the risk of cancer. However, David Thomas and colleagues from the Gavin Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia, for the first time confirmed that mutations associated with lower cancer risk gradually accumulate into more lethal effects. Related results were recently published in the "Lancet Oncology" journal.

　　The team compared the genetic profiles of healthy people with the genetic profiles of 1162 sarcoma patients. Sarcoma is a cancer that occurs in bones and soft tissues and affects young people more. The researchers focused on 72 genes in particular, some of which are closely related to sarcoma, such as the TP53 gene, while others are only weakly related.

　　Unsurprisingly, a mutation in the TP53 gene increases people’s risk of developing sarcoma-half of them develop cancer at the age of 32. However, people with two genetic mutations that are only weakly linked to sarcoma develop tumors at a younger age-half of them develop cancer at the age of 25. This effect is more pronounced in people with 3 or more mutations in these genes.

　　"Cancer is a disease caused by the gradual accumulation of genetic mutations." Thomas said, this means that the more genetic mutations the human body carries, the earlier it is possible to develop cancer in a lifetime.

　　He also stated that examining multiple genes should allow cancer to be detected early before it becomes fatal. Perhaps one day it will become the norm to examine people’s bodies to find combinations of high-risk mutations in genes previously thought to have little association with cancer risk.

　　Currently, Thomas' team is providing whole-body MRI scans to people with such genetic mutations in order to determine whether there is any early evidence of sarcoma. "We chose cancers that did not show symptoms in people carrying such genetic mutations. Because they are still in their early stages, we can really cure them."