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Tumor Suppression Gene Discovered

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Mon Jan 23, 2006 01:29 AM
from the come-see-the-violence-inherent-in-the-system dept.
Science News
An anonymous reader writes ScieceDaily is reporting that researchers at Ohio State University may have identified a new and unusual tumor suppression gene that could effect cancers of the lung, head, and neck. From the article: "The gene, known as TCF21, is silenced in tumor cells through a chemical change known as DNA methylation, a process that is potentially reversible. The findings might therefore lead to new strategies for the treatment and early detection of lung cancer, a disease that killed an estimated 163,510 Americans in 2005. The study could also lead to a better understanding of the molecular changes that occur in tumor cells during lung-cancer progression."
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  • Grammar Nazi Alert (Score:4, Funny)

    by Da Stylin' Rastan (771797) on Monday January 23 2006, @01:31AM (#14536622)
    that could effect cancers of the lung, head, and neck.

    it'd be even better if it could affect them too.

      • >i>A perfect example of a careless grammatical mistake that completely reverses the meaning of a sentence.

        A comment pointing out an error in the article summary which changes its meaning so drastically is NOT offtopic.

  • Effect (Score:4, Insightful)

    by HermanAB (661181) on Monday January 23 2006, @01:31AM (#14536624)
    Gee, why would anyone want to effect cancer? I would think there are enough carcinogens out there to effect cancer already.


    • Basically, the best way to create new jobs is to create problems that can be solved by new jobs. Bill Clinton proposed creating new jobs to fix the environment, someone else created the 'Lets Hate America' which is being solved by jobs at Halliburton and the U.S. Army, and paid for by the taxpayers. Similarly, you f**c up human genes through radioactive experiments, and then you create a new industry to solve that problem. I'm only half kidding ;)

  • Fix Lung Cancer? (Score:5, Funny)

    by killeena (794394) on Monday January 23 2006, @01:32AM (#14536626) Homepage
    No reason to stop smoking now. Everyone light up!

    • Re:Fix Lung Cancer? (Score:5, Informative)

      by Voltageaav (798022) on Monday January 23 2006, @01:44AM (#14536677) Homepage
      According to the article, the gene only slows things down. In tests, tumor cells with the gene preasant are smaller, but they're still there. While it's very exciting and will undoubtably lead to new treatments, it's not a cure yet.
    • Actually, a good percentage of lung cancers aren't caused by smoking. I don't recall the percentage, but it's significant. It's unfortunate that those suffering through lung cancer have the stigma that "they deserve it," as that's not true in all the cases, and nobody deserves to suffer though cancer. -- Paul

      • Actually, a good percentage of lung cancers aren't caused by smoking. I don't recall the percentage, but it's significant.

        I have to disagree. Most studies estimate that ~90% of lung cancer patients are smokers. Furthermore, the incidence of cancer in smokers is also increased for other tumor types like oral cancer, laryngeal cancer (this one is practically an exclusive disease of smokers!) and bladder cancer. As a rough estimate, in our research database we have 71 lung cancer patients, 68 of which were


      • Several others have already pointed out that roughly 90% of lung cancers are known to be caused by smoking. It is true that 10% are not, just as 50% car accidents are not caused by drunk driving. But that doesn't make drunk driving ok, sensible or sane.

        Back in the day when I worked in radiotherapy physics I came to a simple conclusion: if you took all the money being spent on the kind of research I was doing and put it into an modestly effective anti-smoking campaign, you would extend more lives much lon
    • No reason to stop smoking now. Everyone light up!

      It's a celebration, bitches!
  • I smoke quite a bit on a daily basis. Yes, I am well aware of my vice. This comes as pretty stellar news for me. Should, at some point in the future, this develop into a worthwhile treatment for cancers, I welcome it.

    Here's to our new gene discovering overlords; may you use your powers for good and not to create a new race of super intelligent and immortal beings.
    • To be honest, I have to disagree that this is stellar news for smokers. Even if you do have an easy cure for lung cancer available, this doesn't mean go ahead and smoke to your heart's content.

      Lung cancer isn't the only reason to stop smoking. It discolors your teeth, makes you stink and disturbs people around you.

      • Re:good news for me (and you) (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Voltageaav (798022) on Monday January 23 2006, @01:58AM (#14536734) Homepage
        Don't forget emphysema. I think that's a tad worse than discolored teeth, or the stench that surrounds you.

        • Re:good news for me (and you) (Score:5, Insightful)

          by ross.w (87751) <rwonderley AT gmail DOT com> on Monday January 23 2006, @04:49AM (#14537265) Journal
          A quick survey of my four grandparents, while a small sample, is enlightening.

          Maternal Grandmother
          Sendentary job, never smoked. developed diabetes at age 70, constant blood pressure problems - died age 84 after years of suffering strokes

          Maternal Grandfather
          Athlete and Gallipoli Veteran - Not a smoker to my knowledge. Suffered with high blood pressure and died age 84 due to complications from Parkinson's disease.

          Paternal Grandmother
          Overweight to the point of obesity. Gave up smoking when in her 40s
          Died age 71 from complications resulting from Type 2 diabetes.

          Paternal Grandfather
          Stevedore and tennis coach. Smoked all his adult life until age 78. Always has two schooners (large glass) of beer every evening. Recently celebrated his 90th birthday. Suffers from Emphysema (not yet on oxygen) which will probably eventually kill him.

          From this small sample, it appears that lack of fitness will kill you just as quick if not quicker than smoking.

          So Slashdotters, instead of poking fingers at the smokers, get up, turn off your computer, get out from your Mother's basement and go for a walk. It might save your life.

          (I don't smoke btw)
          • They may not get rich, but tobacco is about the only crop worth anything at all, most of the time. My grandfather used to raise 3 or 4 acres back in the early 80s, and I remember him saying it was worth 20 or 30 times as much as corn or soy. Even with all the extra work (tobacco gets stripped by hand).

  • DNA methylation reversible? (Score:5, Informative)

    by aschoff_nodule (890870) on Monday January 23 2006, @01:36AM (#14536643)
    To my knowledge DNA methylation cannot be reversed and DNA methylase has not been found to exist yet. The only way DNA de-methylation at a particular CpG site in DNA can occur is by DNA replication(cell division), where replication of DNA gives an unmethylated CpG site.
    • This sounds like a job for Folding@Home....
    • To my knowledge DNA methylation cannot be reversed and DNA methylase has not been found to exist yet. The only way DNA de-methylation at a particular CpG site in DNA can occur is by DNA replication(cell division), where replication of DNA gives an unmethylated CpG site.

      Huh?

      Last time I looked the point of DNA methylation was this:

      One of the four bases (I forget which) has a methylation site, and the DNA replication mechanism normally copies the methylation state as well as the base type. This effectively ma

  • One more breakthrough reported on /.? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by geneing (756949) on Monday January 23 2006, @01:41AM (#14536665)
    Well, as a regular /. reader I'm confused. In the past couple of year I've read dozens of reports here about breakthrough discoveries in cancer treatment and fusion research. However, neither cancer has been cured nor fusion reactors have been built.

    What am I missing? :)

    • In general, any breakthrough discovery requires years of follow-up testing to make sure it's actually valid, and even then whatever comes as a result of it will be of limited use and prohibitively expensive - even assuming that the follow-up testing didn't reveal any new hurdles, which it usually does.
    • That's not exactly fair ... there are many types of cancer that are routinely cured (cancer is not, after, a single disease) and there have been plenty of fusion reactors built ... they just don't actually generate usable power yet.
  • Have it been patented [georgetown.edu] yet [slashdot.org]?

  • might as well get it out of the way.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 23 2006, @01:47AM (#14536687)
    I for one welcome our new 6-packs-a-day cancerless overlords!

  • Oncology epidemiology and methylation... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by CupBeEmpty (720791) on Monday January 23 2006, @01:56AM (#14536729) Homepage
    ..are areas that I have worked in, at the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in NYC. I am not really that enthusiastic about this find. There are an enourmous amount of "cancer supressing genes" but very few yield useful clinical results. This seems to be a case of over-hyping (which occurs all the time) of a scientific find.
  • Another example of researchers drumming up their findings. Altered methylation patterns of tumor suppressor gene promotor sequences is nothing new. Neither is the finding of a gene whose product can act to suppress tumor growth. There are many of those.Posting this on slashdot is somewhat overdone. DNA methylation is an exciting target for chemotherapy, that will doutblessly benefit cancer patients in the near future. But it is too early to cry victory.

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