Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – @BednarChuck
Scientists from the UK’s Institute of Cancer Research and colleagues from France and Canada have identified a genetic mutation linked to the development of anaplastic oligodendroglioma, an aggressive form of brain cancer that affects the cerebral hemisphere of the brain.
According to the researchers, who published their findings in a recent edition of the journal Nature Communications, their work represents the largest-ever study of this type of brain cancer—which is fast growing, accounts for between five to ten percent of central nervous system tumors, and usually leads to a grim prognosis.
The study provides new insight into the causes of oligodendroglioma, as well as potential treatments, they study authors added. Learning more about the genetic causes responsible for the development of these tumors will allow scientists and doctors to come up with new personalized treatments that can target a vast array of mutations driving the condition.
Fast and aggressive
The study, which was funded by Investissements d’avenir and Génome Québec and supported by Cancer Research UK, compared the genetic sequences of 134 oligodendrogliomas with the DNA of healthy brain cells. They found mutations in the TCF12 gene in 7.5 percent of the tumors, and those tumors grew more rapidly and were more aggressive than those lacking the variant.
TCF12, the authors explained, is the genetic code for a protein which binds to DNA and controls the activity of other genes. They found that the mutations in this gene hampered protein’s ability to find to DNA, which resulted in reduced activity in other key genes, including one (CHD1) that had already been associated with the spread of cancer in previous research.
“Our in-depth study,” Professor Richard Houlston, an instructor of molecular and population genetics at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said in a statement Friday, “has set out many of the genetic defects that cause this rare but highly aggressive form of brain cancer – including identifying a gene mutation that appears in particularly fast-growing forms.”
“Anaplastic oligodendrogliomas are difficult to remove by surgery and don’t respond well to other forms of treatment,” he added. “We hope this new information might be used to discover new targeted therapies, offering patients a better chance at survival from this aggressive cancer.”
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