genes

Cancer is a series of diseases of a tissue grow in an uncontrolled way, due to buildup of mutations in the cell genome. Research has shown about 6/7 key genes needed to be mutated to cause a tissue to become a cancer. Molecular studies had identified 2 major types of cancer gene, oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes. Genomic methodology changed the approach to cancer research from being hypothesis-driven to methodology driven.  There are four techniques used which include:

·          Expression profiling – using micro –arrays to find out all the different types of mRNA made in cancer.

·          Comparative genome- hybridization to map changes in the structure of the cancer genome.

·          DNA methylation – to identify changes that could lead to changed gene expression

·          Exome sequencing – to  map all the protein mutations that have occurred in the cancer

Taken together the techniques provided the cancer cell oh undergone:

1.       Biochemical pathways of growth control that are changed in the cancer

2.       Possible new targets for cancer therapy

3.       Possible ways of distinguishing between sub-types of cancer

4.       Possible identification of sets of markers that can be used to predict prognosis and response to a particular therapy