{"id":12038,"date":"2022-04-21T19:00:46","date_gmt":"2022-04-21T17:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=117379"},"modified":"2022-04-21T19:19:09","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T17:19:09","slug":"dna-tumour-study-unearths-new-clues-about-cancer-causing-genetic-mutations","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/dna-tumour-study-unearths-new-clues-about-cancer-causing-genetic-mutations\/","title":{"rendered":"DNA tumour study unearths new clues about cancer-causing genetic mutations"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Jason Goodyer\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 21 April 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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A DNA analysis of thousands of tumours taken from NHS patients has shed new light on the genetic causes of cancer and could lead to new targets for treatment.<\/p>\n

A team of researchers based at Cambridge University Hospitals and the University of Cambridge analysed the whole-genome sequences of more than 12,000 NHS cancer patients, studying the history of genetic mutations in each patient as the illness progressed.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the vast size of the data set they had to work with, the team were able to detect tell-tale patterns, or mutational signatures, in the DNA of each specific tumour that could provide clues to the patients\u2019 past exposure to various environmental causes of cancer such as smoking or UV light.<\/p>\n

They were also able to pin down 58 new mutational signatures<\/a> that offer avenues to further study factors that contribute to the occurrence of cancer, which could help to diagnose and treat patients more effectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason it is important to identify mutational signatures is because they are like fingerprints at a crime scene \u2013 they help to pinpoint cancer culprits,\u201d said study leader Serena Nik-Zainal<\/a>, a professor of genomic medicine and bioinformatics at the University of Cambridge.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome mutational signatures have clinical or treatment implications \u2013 they can highlight abnormalities that may be targeted with specific drugs or may indicate a potential \u2018Achilles heel\u2019 in individual cancers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The genome data set was provided by the 100,000 Genomes Project, an England-wide clinical research initiative that has sequenced 100,000 whole genomes from more than 85,000 patients affected by rare diseases or cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhole-genome sequencing gives us a total picture of all the mutations that have contributed to each person\u2019s cancer,\u201d said the study\u2019s first author Dr Andrea Degasperi<\/a>, research associate at the University of Cambridge. \u201cWith thousands of mutations per cancer, we have unprecedented power to look for commonalities and differences across NHS patients.\u201d<\/p>\n