Early evidence of cancer can occur years or even decades before diagnosis, a new study shows. The findings could pave the way for new therapies.
The first signs of cancer can be recognized decades before a tumor is diagnosed. This emerges from a study published in the journal “Nature”. It shows that in some cases the genetic mutations that convert healthy cells into malignant ones can even be detected in childhood.
Changes years before the first signs of cancer
With every fifth mutation one can assume such an “early event” in tumor development, it is said in the study. The new findings on the complex genetics of tumor diseases may open completely new ways for future diagnostic procedures.
“The extraordinary thing is how some of the genetic changes appear to occur many years before the diagnosis.” That is long before there are other signs that cancer is developing, writes Clemency Jolly, co-author of the study by the British Francis Crick Research Institute.
The study was conducted as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Project (PCAWG), the most comprehensive meta-analysis of the genetic makeup of cancer tumors to date. The 1,500 international researchers involved examined samples from around 2,700 tumors and 38 different types of cancer – including liver, brain and pancreatic tumors.
Opportunity for new tests for early detection
Researcher Jolly and her colleagues are confident that diagnostic tests can be developed in the future that detect such mutations with the help of so-called liquid biopsies. The idea behind it: Did mutations float freely DNA in the blood, this could provide evidence of tumors elsewhere in the body.
In the future, cancer patients could possibly be tested for malignant growth at a very early stage of the disease and treated accordingly. This would also make it possible to examine children early in order to avoid a tumor.
Tumors develop when the body’s own cells begin to grow uncontrollably and divide excessively. This process is triggered when mutations take place in the genetic material of the cells that are not countered by the body’s own defense mechanisms. Cancer research is increasingly focusing on why the immune system does not attack cancer cells.
Cancer is the leading cause of death in rich industrial nations
A deeper insight into the genetics of cancer cells not only helps to better understand the development of malignant growths. It can also offer important starting points for new treatment methods. And these are more relevant than ever.
In the rich industrialized nations, tumor disease is now the number one cause of death and thus has Cardiovascular disease replaced.
Graphic: The diagram shows the relationship between the most common causes of death and living standards. (Source: The Lancet)
In Germany alone, around 500,000 people develop cancer each year. Worldwide, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) registered 18.1 million new cancers in 2018, killing just under ten million people. According to a forecast by the World Health Organization (WHO), the number of global cancer cases will almost double by 2040.
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