By CTV.CA
Added: Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:00:00 UTC

Thanks to rod-the-farmer for the link.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091007/breast_cancer_091007/20091007?hub=TopStoriesV2

Canadian scientists have become the first in the world to decode the DNA of breast cancer cells, and have discovered, to their surprise, that the gene mutations in those tumours shift as the disease spreads.

The finding brings researchers unprecedented information about how breast cancer progresses and shows that the disease is a moving target that often changes the way it operates.

"I never thought I would see it in my lifetime," co-principal investigator Dr. Samuel Aparicio, head of the agency's breast cancer research program, said of the discovery.

Researchers with the B.C. Cancer Agency say they made their discovery after decoding the entire genome of a patient's metastatic breast cancer and finding all the genome's mutations.

Genetic mutations are often harmless, but when mutations appear in the genes that control cell division, that can cause cells to grow in an uncontrolled way, which is how cancer develops.


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http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20091007/breast_cancer_091007/20091007?hub=TopStoriesV2

TAGGED: GENETICS, MEDICINE