Researchers Seek Genetic Map of Cancer

http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2005-12-20-voa2.cfm

Researchers Seek Genetic Map of Cancer
Written by Cynthia Kirk
20 December 2005

I?m Faith Lapidus with the VOA Special English Health Report.

Last week, we discussed new findings about the way cancer spreads from one
part of the body to another. Now, medical researchers in the United
States are beginning an effort to find the genes that cause cancer.

Experts say cancer is not a single disease, but more than two hundred
different diseases. In each case, they say, uncontrolled cell growth
starts with molecular changes at the genetic level. In some cases the
cells metastasize, or spread to other parts of the body, making the cancer
more difficult to treat.

The Cancer Genome Atlas project could lead to new treatments and possibly
even new ways to prevent cancer. Officials of the National Institutes of
Health have agreed to spend one hundred million dollars over the next
three years. Depending on the results, the project may be expanded in the
future.

Doctor Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health announced the
project last week. Half the money will come from the National Cancer
Institute. The other half will come from the National Human Genome
Research Institute, where Doctor Collins is the director.

The idea for the project came about after the successful effort to map the
human genes. The Human Genome Project was completed in two thousand
three.

Human genome center lab in Tokyo (photo)

Now scientists will use that same technology to search for the genetic
changes that lead to cancer. But they say mapping cancer genes will be
much more complex than the human genome project. The researchers will
study hundreds of examples of tissue taken from cancerous growths.

Cancer is the second leading killer in most developed countries, after
heart disease. But survival rates have improved with medical progress in
finding, treating and preventing cancer.

Researchers have worked for years to find the many genetic changes
involved in cancer. But so far they have found very few. Many
researchers have called for a systematic way to study cancer.

Drugs have successfully blocked some cancer-causing genes. But experts
say only a small number of people have the genetic conditions that the
drugs target.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk.
Internet users can learn more about the Cancer Genome Atlas project at the
government Web site genome-dot-gov, g-e-n-o-m-e dot g-o-v. And our
reports are online at voaspecialenglish. I'm Faith Lapidus.

.

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