Cancer genes identified?

US researchers have identified a gene that could play a crucial role in non-hereditary (sporadic) breast cancer and lung cancer. Non-hereditary breast cancer, which arises following genetic changes acquired during a person's lifetime, accounts for over 90 per cent of cases of the disease. The gene, named DBC2, codes for a protein that is unlike any other known to be involved in cancer, reports the team from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York.

The scientists found that DBC2 was either missing or inactive in almost 60 per cent of sporadic breast cancer tissue samples, and 50 per cent of the lung cancer samples they studied. The insertion of a working copy of the DBC2 gene appeared to stop the uncontrolled growth of the cancer cells in the laboratory, report the team in this month's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. But team leader Dr Michael Wigler stresses that 'we have a long, long way to go before we really understand at the genetic level what is going on'.

Meanwhile, scientists at the University of Michigan in the US have discovered a potential way of distinguishing aggressive prostate cancer from non-life-threatening cases. Their research, reported in Nature, show that a gene called EZH2 is more active in the aggressive form of the disease, which can spread to other parts of the body. Eventually, new tests that measure levels of the proteins produced by EZH2 and other genes could help doctors identify prostate cancer at an early stage, and help them decide on the best treatment for each patient.