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DNA Cancer Codes Cracked By International Effort

Posted by samzenpus on from the world-wide-tumor dept.

Enigma23 writes "As reported on news.com.au, scientists from the International Cancer Genome Consortium of 12 institutes around the world will today release the first DNA profiles of some of the most prevalent types of tumors. While the story asserts that 'A new era of cancer treatment has dawned,' I'm a bit more skeptical, given that gene therapy and immunotherapy are still very much in their infancy at the current time."

7 of 106 comments (clear)

  1. I'll take whatever advancement we've got. by purduephotog · · Score: 4, Informative

    I was diagnosed with stage 5 cancer at age 17. I'm still alive at age 33.

    There's not a day that goes by when I don't look at my disfigured face and wonder what thing would have been like if I'd caught it sooner- according to one doc, I'd have been dead because my body wouldn't have fought it off. Who knows.

    But anything that gets a genetic component and allows them to focus better on killing off the cells that have tormented me for over a dozen years I'll be more than grateful. There isn't a trip to the doctor that doesn't send shiver of fear down my spine, whether or not I'll be able to continue to provide for my family- whether or not that cough that started was due to pollen or something else... whether or not that pain in the side is a kidney stone or something more sinister.

    Cancer is a killer. Even the survivors die a little every day.

    1. Re:I'll take whatever advancement we've got. by Calibax · · Score: 4, Informative

      Staging systems are specific for each type of cancer but I don't think there are any stage 5 cancers. Overall cancer staging goes from stage 0 to stage IV - some cancers go from stage I to stage IV. In all cancers, stage IV means it has metastasized to distant locations in the body, which generally has a very poor prognosis.

      In any case, for the majority of tumors, staging has been replaced by the TNM system (tumor, nodes, metastasis). For example, my colon cancer is staged T3N0M0, meaning a stage 3 tumor that has not spread to lymph nodes and has not spread to other organs.

      If you have had no re-occurrence of your cancer after 16 then you are almost certainly free of the disease. Most cancers show up before within 5 years if they are going to reappear. That's why people are classified as cancer survivors if they are disease free after 5 years. There are some exceptions (such as breast cancer) that do have a tendency to reoccur in later life, but even then it's not common.

      I suggest that after 12+ years you just accept that you are alive and stop living as if there's a Sword of Damocles hanging over your head.

      Personally, this cancer survivor does not die a little each day as you suggest - quite the opposite. I try to live life to the full, enjoying my wife and family.

  2. A slightly more informative webpage by parallel_prankster · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.qcmg.org/cancer.html It gives a background of what they are trying to do, seems interesting.

    1. Re:A slightly more informative webpage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Or go to the source ICGC.

  3. Re:No USA sites in the international list? by kharchenko · · Score: 3, Informative

    Indeed, the US is sequencing more genomes than any other participating country.

  4. Re:No USA sites in the international list? by reverseengineer · · Score: 3, Informative

    The US participates via a parallel project in The Cancer Genome Atlas administered by the National Institutes of Health, which while remaining independent of the international project, shares data and tailors it's foci to not overlap with those of the ICGC.

    --
    "FDA staff reviewers expressed concern about the number of patients who were left out of the study because they died."
  5. Re:More than gene therapy and immunotherapy by Abcd1234 · · Score: 3, Informative

    it can still be used to set up tiered insurance charges so that people who don't have the genes will only pay a little more for insurance than they do now (doing business as it has always been done), while people who have the genes will be in a different risk group and will be required by law to pay much higher premiums than anyone has ever had to pay before

    Buh? They didn't sequence the genes of cancer patients. They sequenced the genes of the tumours themselves.