TWO ARTICLES THAT HAVE DIRECT RELATION WITH THE DEVELOPMENTS IN CASE OF CANCER.

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We inform all our Greek and Emigrant brothers for the end of year them we will present two articles that have direct relation with the developments in the case of Cancer. Are written from appreciable scientists and emanate from news.bbc.co.uk, their titles are, Scientists crack “entire genetic code” of cancer and Cancer gene test “for all women”.

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1^st Article

Scientists crack 'entire genetic code' of cancer

By Michelle Roberts

Health reporter, BBC News

Professor Mike Stratton: "This is a fundamental moment in cancer research"

Scientists have unlocked the entire genetic code of two of the most common cancers - skin and lung - a move they say could revolutionise cancer care.

Not only will the cancer maps pave the way for blood tests to spot tumours far earlier, they will also yield new drug targets, says the Wellcome Trust team.

Scientists around the globe are now working to catalogue all the genes that go wrong in many types of human cancer.

The UK is looking at breast cancer, Japan at liver and India at mouth. China is studying stomach cancer, and the US is looking at cancers of the brain, ovary and pancreas.

The International Cancer Genome Consortium scientists from the 10 countries involved say it will take them at least five years and many hundreds of thousands of dollars to complete this mammoth task. But once they have done this, patients will reap the benefits.

Professor Michael Stratton, who is the UK lead, said: "These catalogues are going to change the way we think about individual cancers. "By identifying all the cancer genes we will be able to develop new drugs that target the specific mutated genes and work out which patients will benefit from these novel treatments. "We can envisage a time when following the removal of a cancer cataloguing it will become routine."

It could even be possible to develop MoT-style blood tests for healthy adults that can check for tell-tale DNA patterns suggestive of cancer.

Russian roulette

The scientists found the DNA code for a skin cancer called melanoma contained more than 30,000 errors almost entirely caused by too much sun exposure.

The lung cancer DNA code had more than 23,000 errors largely triggered by cigarette smoke exposure.

From this, the experts estimate a typical smoker acquires one new mutation for every 15 cigarettes they smoke.

Although many of these mutations will be harmless, some will trigger cancer.

Wellcome Trust researcher Dr Peter Campbell, who conducted this research, published in the journal Nature, said: "It's like playing Russian roulette. "Most of the time the mutations will land in innocent parts of the genome, but some will hit the right targets for cancer."

By quitting smoking, people could reduce their cancer risk back down to "normal" with time, he said. The suspicion is lung cells containing mutations are eventually replaced with new ones free of genetic errors.

By studying the cancer catalogues in detail, the scientists say it should be possible to find exactly which lifestyle and environmental factors trigger different tumours.

Treatment and prevention

Tom Haswell, who was successfully treated 15 years ago for lung cancer, believes the research will benefit the next generation: "For future patients I think it's tremendous news because hopefully treatments can be targeted to their particular genome mutations, hopefully... reducing some of the side effects we get".

Cancer experts have applauded the work.

The Institute of Cancer Research said: "This is the first time that a complete cancer genome has been sequenced and similar insights into other cancer genomes are likely to follow. "As more cancer genomes are revealed by this technique, we will gain a greater understanding of how cancer is caused and develops, improving our ability to prevent, treat and cure cancer."

Professor Carlos Caldas, from Cancer Research UK's Cambridge Research Institute called the research "groundbreaking". "Like molecular archaeologists, these researchers have dug through layers of genetic information to uncover the history of these patients' disease.”What is so new in this study is the researchers have been able to link particular mutations to their cause. "The hope and excitement for the future is that we will eventually have detailed picture of how different cancers develop, and ultimately how better to treat and prevent them."

In order to you study entire the article you select http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8414124.stm

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2^nd Article

Cancer gene test 'for all women'

A simple test for gene faults which increase the risk of breast cancer is getting nearer, UK scientists suggest.

A genetic test would look for several breast cancer genes

If given to all women at the age of 30, those found to be at highest risk could be regularly screened for signs of disease, they say.

The article, in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests older "low risk" women might need less breast screening.

But screening younger women could increase the number of expensive MRI scans needed.

Scientists know that breast cancer risk is determined partly by a woman's inherited genetic makeup, and partly by other factors, such as lifestyle.

By testing people with a strong family history of the disease, they have gradually uncovered which genes appear to be contributing to that risk.

The best known of these are faults in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, but there are several others.

Researchers say that it is becoming feasible to work out whether a woman is at "low", "moderate" or "high" risk of cancer by looking at which combinations of these she has.

A woman at "low risk" might be offered the chance to defer the start of conventional breast screening on the NHS, which starts at age 50, while someone at high risk might be screened every year from 30.

Dr Paul Pharoah, from the University of Cambridge, who is funded by the charity Cancer Research UK, said: "We are a few years away from a new and powerful range of genetic tests for breast cancer. "We believe genetic testing has the potential to enable doctors to identify a woman at an increased risk of breast cancer who would benefit from mammography at an early age or woman who may benefit from regular MRI scanning as well. "This approach would also identify a 55-year-old woman with a low chance of breast cancer who possibly wouldn't need such regular checks." He said the test would be simple - a swab rubbed inside the mouth - and cheap.

Expensive scans

However, the arrival of universal gene testing could present a challenge to the current NHS breast screening programme.

While there is evidence that conventional X-ray mammography is effective at saving lives in women over 50, there is little evidence that it can help younger women.

This is because the density of breast tissue is different before the menopause, making it harder for cancers to be spotted.

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence recommends the use of MRI scans in younger women at high risk of breast cancer, but this could be far more financially draining if used widely.

Professor Bruce Ponder, who led the research, said: "We expect such technology to develop very fast in the next decade so it's important that we start thinking about how best to apply these advances."

A spokesman for MacMillan Cancer Support said that older women should be encouraged to attend breast screening, regardless of any risk revealed by a future gene test. "At Macmillan we would strongly urge women not to defer screening.

"It is a free facility that can save lives and all women should be encouraged to take it up when offered to them."

A spokeswoman for charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer said improvements on conventional mammography, such as new "digital" mammography, might be increasingly important.

But the NHS Breast Screening Programme said such gene testing was still a long-way off.

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