Targeted therapies will yield huge gains, with fewer severe side effects, compared to the sledgehammer chemotherapeutic and radiation approaches — which kill almost all quickly dividing cells — currently serving as the standard of care. Nonetheless, it is likely to provide far better prognoses for a large number of cancer patients. Say goodbye to one-size-fits-all cancer treatments Driven by the desire to eradicate cancer, we are leading the future of cancer treatments by combining computational expertise with our unparalleled knowledge of mouse genetics.
For a better handle on where we are now, what challenges remain to be overcome, and what progress may be around the corner, here are a few key biological concepts, how they relate to cancer, and research at the The JAX Cancer Center The Jackson Laboratory Cancer Center JAXCC is a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center complemented by institutional education, resource and service initiatives that support cancer research world-wide.
The JAXCC comprises approximately 50 members with multidisciplinary expertise who are united in research aimed at understanding and targeting the genomic complexity of cancer.
NCI-designated Jackson Laboratory Cancer Center that is increasing our understanding of each concept and, in some cases, is identifying new therapeutic targets. Cancer cells, even within the same tumor, can be different in important ways. The technical term is heterogeneous, and the consequences of heterogeneity started coming into focus only a few years ago. At that time, researchers showed that cells collected from four different regions of the same kidney cancer tumor were in fact quite different.
Further studies have reinforced this finding, and cancer cell heterogeneity is now widely recognized. Given that biopsies are typically taken from a single spot within a tumor, this fact has serious implications for improving diagnostics and therapies. It also indicates that any one targeted therapy is highly unlikely to eliminate all cancer cells by itself. The recently established What is single cell genomics?
Recent advances in the techniques for isolating single cells, together with methods for amplifying their genetic material, now make it possible to explore the genomes of single cells. Paul Robson, Ph. Single-cell sequencing can track how mutations spread through tumors and make some of them resistant to therapy. The technology also provides the opportunity to uncover molecules that control cell-to-cell communication between the many cell types that reside within a tumor, identifying potential drug targets.
And it has the potential to reveal cell types that are rare or otherwise difficult to study but are important to cancer growth and survival. Cancer cells grow and divide with extreme rapidity and must endure a certain amount of stress and damage to their DNA.
Fast-growing cancers depend on a fine balance between DNA damage and repair, but genetic changes add up over time, and the result is like evolution at warp speed, where growth-promoting mutations lead to even more rapid expansion.
This contributes to the heterogeneity discussed above. It also means the cancer you find today may differ from the one you try to treat in the weeks and months to come. Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain cancer that remains extremely difficult to treat. Brain tumors, sequencing, computational biology.
Roel Verhaak, Ph. He also works at the single-cell level to track differences over time in both glioblastoma cells and in their micro-environments, the tissues and cells immediately surrounding the cancer cells. Learning how both change and evolve under selective pressure such as during treatment is vital for refining therapy regimens.
And because their micro-environments can help cancer cells evade therapy, extending analyses beyond the glioblastoma cells themselves is a Profiling brain cancers for more targeted treatments Professor Roel Verhaak, Ph. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Email Address:. Create a website or blog at WordPress. Image Credits Davis, Charles Patrick. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn. Like this: Like Loading Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:.
Email required Address never made public. Name required. Follow OncoBites via Email Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Join 1, other followers. Follow Following. OncoBites Join 1, other followers. Sign me up. The genetic mutations that cancer cells acquire over time mean that the cells change the way they behave.
This can be an incredibly difficult problem during treatment because the mutations can lead to cancer cells developing resistance to a treatment over time, making it ineffective. If that happens, the patient will then have to be put on to a different treatment — but again, the cancer could develop resistance to the new drug.
This is why we fund researchers like Maite Huarte , who is trying to figure out how to overcome this resistance. Normal cells have certain mechanisms in place that stop them from growing or dividing too much.
Cancer cells have lost these control mechanisms and can develop an arsenal of tricks to avoid being killed. While individual cancer diagnoses remain one of the scariest conversations people can have with their doctor; it is worth stepping back to look at the bigger picture. Over the last 40 years, research has made astonishing progress and survival rates for many cancers have increased dramatically over the last decades.
Survival rates for many cancers have soared. Years of research means that nine out of ten people diagnosed with testicular cancer today will still be here 10 years down the line. Three-quarters of children diagnosed with cancer now survive their disease beyond 10 years — a huge improvement from about a third of children diagnosed with cancer 40 years ago.
Thanks to you we have been able to fund lifesaving research for over 40 years. But there is still a long way to go. Cancer is caused by a complex mixture of genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors. But what increases your risk of cancer?
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