Scientists crack the genetic code of breast and colon cancer

In a breakthrough in the field of cancer research, U.S scientists have cracked the genetic codes of breast and colon cancer, which could help in understanding how tumors form, grow and spread within the body. They have identified nearly 200 mutated genes that are responsible for growth and spread of cancer. This discovery could go a long way in developing efficient ways to diagnose cancer at its early stages, which might ultimately help in saving many lives from the clutches of cancer. All forms of cancer occur due to mutations in genes, which alters its functions and helps in the growth and multiplication of cancer cells. Cancer is the most common genetic disease and one in three people in the western world, develop it in their life time.
The mutated genes of the breast and colon cancer, identified in this research, were completely distinct from one another with different genetic blueprints, suggesting that cancer behaves differently in different persons. Now researchers would study how the mutations that trigger breast and colon cancer, occurs. The findings of this study indicate that cancer is a more complex disease than what scientists believe and each type of cancer have different pathways for development. Ed Young of Cancer Research UK called this research as a potentially important one in the field of carcinogenesis and added that the genes identified in this study had not been previously liked to cancer.
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