

First comprehensive analysis of two cancer genomes - epi0Bauqu
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-12/wtsi-lca121509.php

======
anigbrowl
Pooh BBC, linkbaity headline and no link to the study? Well, they're really
bad about external links anyway...guess they don't want people leaving their
website for any reason _grumble_

Interesting news though, thanks. More informative press release:
[http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-12/wtsi-
lca12150...](http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-12/wtsi-
lca121509.php)

Project page with lots of resources:
<http://www.sanger.ac.uk/research/projects/cancergenome.html>

------
carbocation
Nature journal articles in question (you'll almost certainly need a university
account to see these):

Melanoma:
[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/natu...](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature08658.html)

Small-cell lung cancer:
[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/natu...](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature08629.html)

Erin Pleasance is the first author on two Nature articles in the same issue.
That is insane!

------
ars
They didn't really crack it. They found a whole bunch of dna errors in cancer,
but they don't know which ones matter.

~~~
Estragon
They don't even know which are DNA mutations, and which are systematic
sequencing errors.

------
stilist
Correction: _two_ cancer _s_ , not all cancer.

------
pg
BTW, don't downvote the preceding comments complaining about this post.
They're responding to the article that was here before I replaced it with the
one anigbrowl suggested.

~~~
astine
Would it have been better to simply submit a new article?

------
electromagnetic
Would the idea now be to compare multiple cases of lung cancer to identify the
genetic error that causes the tumour formation and develop a way to actively
target said errors?

I mean would it eventually become feasible to put a chemical (or something)
into a cigarette to greatly reduce the risk of lung cancer? Similarly could a
chemical be devised for addition to sun block, or even after-sun to actively
fight the cancer before it develops.

~~~
barry-cotter
Chemical as in simple compound? No. I have no idea what the worst mutagen in
cigarette smoke is but there are lots and their effects are going to be random
statistically, sometimes they'll change this gene, sometimes the other, though
some sections will be especially vulnerable/likely to mutate in a specific
way.

I could see some bloody complicated RNAinterferase thing working as a targeted
anti-mutagen, in theory. But if you can deliver an airborne, persistent heat
tolerant RNAi cancer is at worst a chronic disease like diabetes is now.

------
ericb
Could you diff a healthy genome and several cancerous genomes and come up with
the offending commit? Can someone give me more background on the ins and outs?

~~~
silentbicycle
Well, in the article it says there are 30,000+ mutations, so narrowing it down
to the specific ones caused the cascade of other mutations is far from
trivial.

A VC system with a corrupted database silently wrecking everything that
touches it might not be a bad metaphor, though. (I've had it happen with
Perforce. Not fun.)

