Human Genome and Cancer

Really great, in-depth (but easy to read) article in Scientific American this month on the Human Genome Project and its effects on cancer research. Fascinating if you're into science; hope-inspiring if you're into cancer.


The idea of mapping human genes to pinpoint their role in cancer is about 20 years old. The entire gene sequence was finally mapped about 3 years ago, and now the National Institutes of Health have launched The Cancer Genome Atlas to try to map out the particular genes that might be the cause of certain cancers. (There's certainly plenty of evidence out there to suggest that genetic defects are a cause of cancer, as I've discussed lots of times before. Certainly evidence that Follicular NHL is caused by a switching of two genes.)

Unfortunately, says the article, this is a major undertaking; it will take about 10,000 times the work of the Human Genome Project to map out the DNA for 50 cancers.


The problem is that there is so much to deal with -- millions of genes that need to be identified and then compared to normal ones to determine which ones are out of sequence. Then there's the possibility that cancer comes from a combination of genes out of sequence, so the cause of the cancer could be different for each individual patient, even if they have what looks like the same cancer under a microscope. That's what "personalized treatment" is (and will be) all about, but it's going to be tough to get there.


But I still call the article "hopeful," as tough as it's going to be to complete it all. It's an international effort, which is kind of cool -- cancer binds us all. And it's hopeful because along the way, we're going to learn some interesting things about individual cancers, even if we don't get an overall big picture anytime soon. Small bits of knowledge might advance mor specialized projects already underway.

So here's to hope.