(Press-News.org) WASHINGTON — A panel of 55 genes, almost all of which are impacted by the loss of a particular protein, appears to predict if breast cancer will become invasive, leading to poorer survival, researchers at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center report in PLOS ONE.
The panel represents loss of a powerful tumor suppressor gene, SYK, as well as genetic alterations in 51 other genes that are directly affected by the loss of a copy of the SYK gene and the absence of its protein.
"Without SYK, the protein it makes, and genetic disruption in a set of genes thought also to be controlled by SYK, cancer invades and metastasizes," says the study's senior investigator, Susette C. Mueller, PhD, professor of oncology emeritus at Georgetown Lombardi.
Mueller and her colleagues examined the loss of SYK in tissue from breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a cancer contained within the breast ducts that sometimes morphs and invades surrounding tissue. Samples that had a loss of one copy of the SYK also had evidence of invasive ductal carcinoma nearby. None of the normal breast tissue samples, or of the DCIS-only tissue, had loss of SYK.
"This was the first time that a loss of a SYK gene was found in DCIS breast tissue, but we needed information about the outcomes of these cases to determine the significance of this finding," says Mueller.
So the scientists turned to The Cancer Genome Atlas at the National Institutes of Health, a catalogue containing gene sequencing and gene mutations from cancer patients with invasive disease, along with outcome information.
When they matched changes in the 55 genes to the patients' outcomes, the researchers found that the panel was predictive of which breast cancer patients fared better, Mueller says.
"Survival was much better in the invasive ductal carcinoma patients who did not have any change in the 55 genes," she adds.
At the end of more than 18 years of follow-up, an estimated 80 percent of patients without gene changes were still alive. In contrast, about 20 percent of patients with changes in one or more of the genes were alive.
"The panel is not ready for use as a prognostic tool in the clinic, and much work is required to test it in that way," Mueller cautions.
INFORMATION:
The study was supported by Georgetown Lombardi, and by grants from the U.S. Public Health Service (2P30-CA-51008, 1S10 RR15768-01, and 1 S10 RR019291-01A2; and 9R01 CA112673).
Researchers participating in the study are from the University of the District of Columbia, The Ohio State University, the Affiliated Pathologists Medical Group in California, the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute in Maryland and the Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Romania.
About Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of Georgetown University Medical Center and MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, seeks to improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer through innovative basic and clinical research, patient care, community education and outreach, and the training of cancer specialists of the future. Georgetown Lombardi is one of only 41 comprehensive cancer centers in the nation, as designated by the National Cancer Institute, and the only one in the Washington, DC area. For more information, go to http://lombardi.georgetown.edu.
About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC's mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis – or "care of the whole person." The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization (BGRO), which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health.
Fifty-five genes linked to a powerful tumor suppressor predict breast cancer survival
2014-02-12
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Kidney failure risk for organ donors 'extremely low'
2014-02-12
The risk of a kidney donor developing kidney failure in the remaining organ is much lower than in the population at large, even when compared with people who have two kidneys, according to results of new Johns Hopkins research.
The results, published in the Feb. 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, describes what is believed to be the largest study ever conducted of kidney disease risk in living kidney donors, encompassing all such donors in the United States over a 17-year period. The same researchers reporting in the same journal also showed ...
Study finds small increased risk of kidney disease following kidney donation
2014-02-12
An analysis of nearly 100,000 kidney donors finds that there is a small increased lifetime risk of developing end-stage renal disease following donation compared with healthy nondonors, although the risk is still much lower than that in the general population, according to a study in the February 12 issue of JAMA.
Every year in the United States, approximately 6,000 healthy adults accept the risks of kidney donation to help family members, friends, or even strangers. "It is imperative that the transplant community, in due diligence to donors, understands the risk of ...
Preterm infants more likely to have elevated insulin levels in early childhood
2014-02-12
Researchers have found that preterm infants are more likely to have elevated insulin levels at birth and in early childhood compared to full-term infants, findings that provide additional evidence that preterm birth may be a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, according to a study in the February 12 issue of JAMA.
In the United States, 1 in 9 live births are preterm, and l in 5 live births among African Americans are preterm. "There is growing evidence that fetal and early life events may result in permanent metabolic alterations, such as type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome ...
Fewer doses of HPV vaccine still results in reduced risk of STD
2014-02-12
Although maximum reduction in the risk of genital warts (condylomata) was seen after 3 doses of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, receipt of 2 vaccine doses was associated with considerable reduction in risk, particularly among women who were younger than 17 years at first vaccination, according to a study in the February 12 issue of JAMA.
HPV infection causes genital warts and cervical cancer, and HPV vaccine prevents both. The typical dose schedule requires 3 doses of vaccine, but small clinical trials have reported measures of vaccine efficacy with fewer than 3 ...
Hospital readmission rate varies following care at rehabilitation facility
2014-02-12
Among rehabilitation facilities providing services to Medicare fee-for-service patients, 30-day hospital readmission rates vary, from about 6 percent for patients with lower extremity joint replacement to nearly 20 percent for patients with debility (weakness or feebleness), according to a study in the February 12 issue of JAMA.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently identified 30-day hospital readmission as a national quality indicator for inpatient rehabilitation facilities; reporting will be required in 2014 by the CMS, according to background ...
Study examines legislative challenges to school immunization mandates
2014-02-12
From 2009-2012, 36 bills introduced in 18 states sought to modify school immunization mandates, with the majority seeking to expand exemptions although none of the bills passed, according to a study in the February 12 issue of JAMA.
"School immunization mandates, implemented through state-level legislation, have played an important role in maintaining high immunization coverage in the United States," according to background information in the article. Immunization mandates permit exemptions that vary from state to state in terms of type of exemption (e.g., religious, ...
Exercise may slow progression of retinal degeneration
2014-02-12
Washington, DC — Moderate aerobic exercise helps to preserve the structure and function of nerve cells in the retina after damage, according to an animal study appearing February 12 in The Journal of Neuroscience. The findings suggest exercise may be able to slow the progression of retinal degenerative diseases.
Age-related macular degeneration, one of the leading causes of blindness in the elderly, is caused by the death of light-sensing nerve cells in the retina called photoreceptors. Although several studies in animals and humans point to the protective effects ...
Women with breast cancer gene mutation more likely to survive cancer after double mastectomy
2014-02-12
Women who carry a mutation on the BRCA breast cancer gene - and are diagnosed with early stage breast cancer - are significantly less likely to die if they undergo a double mastectomy than those who have only one breast removed, suggests a paper published on bmj.com today.
The authors say double mastectomy should be discussed as an option for young women with a BRCA mutation and early onset breast cancer. However, given the small number of women in this group, further research is required to confirm the findings.
Women who carry a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation face a ...
Annual screening does not cut breast cancer deaths, suggests Canadian study
2014-02-12
Annual screening in women aged 40-59 does not reduce mortality from breast cancer beyond that of physical examination or usual care, concludes a 25-year study from Canada published on bmj.com today.
Furthermore, the study shows that 22% of screen detected breast cancers were over-diagnosed, representing one over-diagnosed breast cancer for every 424 women who received screening in the trial. Over-diagnosis refers to the detection of harmless cancers that will not cause symptoms or death during a patient's lifetime.
Regular mammography screening is done to reduce ...
New way to measure electron pair interactions
2014-02-12
WASHINGTON D.C. Feb. 11, 2014 -- Shoot a beam of light or particles at certain special materials and you will liberate electrons -- pairs of them -- a phenomenon known as "electron pair emission," which can reveal fundamental properties of the solid and reveal information necessary to design novel materials for future applications.
Measuring electron pair emission has always been difficult, however, because they were traditionally done using highly expensive synchrotron light sources, which are available in only a few laboratories worldwide. Nobody has found a way to ...