Local scientists have unlocked new information about cancer cells that could give late-stage patients hope for better, targeted treatment options down the road, according to a study published today.
"If you're dealing with a tumor, and you're running out of time, you'd better know the best therapy to use to treat it," said Shamil Sunyaev, genetic researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital and one of the lead authors of the paper, published today in Nature.
"Now we have a glimpse into how and where the mutations happen, and this knowledge has potential to help treat it in the future."
The study found that analyzing a cancer cell's DNA can determine with surprising accuracy where in a patient's body the disease originated. That can help treat those who are diagnosed when the cancer has already spread.
"Every cell in our body has the same DNA, but a cell in the eye is very different from a cell in the foot," Sunyaev said. "That information allows you to go back and see where the cancer originated from."
The researchers — made up of a team from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and the University of Washington — found that cancer mutation is strongly linked with the way the DNA is packaged in each cell, according to another lead author, Dr. John Stamatoyanno-poulos, associate professor of genome sciences and medicine at the University of Washington.
"This is a new biological window on early events in cancer," he said. "It is possible sometimes to put patients with metastatic cancer into remission for some time and prolong life expectancy. You want to treat the patients — the problem is, cancer treatments are different depending on the kind."
The site of origin can be determined with a 90 percent accuracy, Stamatoyannopoulos said. He said he believes getting the cancer cells sequenced will become routine in determining treatment options.
He said the research, funded by the National Institutes of Health Common Fund, also could lead to specialized treatments.
"It can help gain insight into different cells that give rise to the same cancers," Stamatoyannopoulos said. "Different kinds of cells require different treatments."
The source of the disease in anywhere from 2 to 5 percent of cancer patients cannot be determined.
The late Mayor Thomas M. Menino was diagnosed shortly before he died last year with an advanced cancer of unknown origin.
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