Cancer discovery 'may lead to personalised treatment'
Cancer is expected to become the biggest killer in the world by the end of next year and healthcare experts are constantly striving to formulate new treatments for the condition, but a recent discovery may possibly lead to personalised treatments, one expert has suggested.
The claim was made by Karol Sikora, medical director of CancerPartnersUK, who said that the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute's (WTSI's) most recent findings could save thousands of lives.
Research by experts at the WTSI has shown for the first time almost all of the mutations in the genomes of two cancers.
All cancers are caused by mutations in the DNA of cancer cells which are acquired during a person's lifetime, but the specialists claim that they may have the key to unlocking the secrets of treating lung cancer and malignant melanoma.
Dr Sikora said the investigations are "definitely interesting" and suggest that healthcare experts may be able to analyse patients on an individual basis.
"With the cost now coming down, it will mean that in the next few years we could see everybody having cancer signs in their DNA sequence compared to their natural sequence, in order to work out what has gone wrong," he explained.
The expert told cancer cover holders that a combination of rapid sequencing and computer technology will enable doctors to quickly work out how to treat patients and what is specifically wring with them.
He said of the WTSI research: "The most interesting thing is the huge difference between the cancer DNA and the normal DNA in application. These patients have been exposed to huge numbers of mutations over the years from the environment, so that becomes very interesting."
Posted by James McCann
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