Japan – Researchers identify genes causing lung cancer

Laaska News  Feb. 13, 2012

Japanese researchers say they have identified genes that cause a type of lung cancer.

Researchers at Jichi Medical University and the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research focused on some healthy genes that cause lung adenocarcinoma by mutating with other genes.

They say they detected 6 such genes in cancer cells from 1,500 patients and confirmed they trigger cancer in mice.

The researchers also say drugs for thyroid cancer, which develops through similar gene mutations, restricted the functions of the 6 genes and prevented them from becoming cancerous.
Lung cancer kills more than 60,000 people in Japan a year, the highest of all types of cancers. An estimated one percent of them have at least one of the 6 genes.

Professor Hiroyuki Mano of Jichi Medical University says it’s highly likely that thyroid cancer drugs used abroad are effective to treat adenocarcinoma patients who have the newly identified genes. He says he hopes to start trials for the drugs as soon as possible.
NHK.
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