Friday, January 7, 2011

Missing Gene: A Reason for Common Brain Cancer?

Missing Gene: A Reason for Common Brain Cancer? (Ivanhoe Newswire) - The omission of a factor called NFKBIA may cause glioblastoma, the most vulgar and malignant brain cancer. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine recently ascertained that the omission of this gene, which is known to promote tumor growth and opposition to therapy, was introduce in one out of every four glioblastoma cases.

When NFKBIA is deleted, certain biochemical processes occur with striking similarity to an attack of glioblastoma, which frequently results in an adjustment of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). At least one-third of glioblastomas are associated with gene-coding abnormalities for EGFR, which include an overabundance of extra copies or a mutation that causes the receptor to always be "on," even when it is not stirred by external factors. This distortion is voice of why glioblastoma is so malignant, as it causes tumors to quickly spread and even rapidly regenerate after surgical removal. Survival can be lengthened by chemotherapy and radiation but usually by only an average of 18 months. "It`s been known for 25 days that EGFR plays a character in glioblastoma as easily as many other cancers and that this factor is aberrantly activated in glioblastoma," lead investigator and visiting associate professor at Stanford, associate professor at the University of Alabama-Birmingham and neuro-oncology professor at Germany`s University of Freiburg, Markus Bredel, M.D. Ph.D. was quoted as saying. "We asked ourselves, what causes the bulk of glioblastomas that don`t get this fault?" The researchers had previously observed that cancer patients with low NFKBIA expression were insubordinate to chemotherapeutic temozolomide treatments. This finding, as good as information collected from other types of tumors, led the researchers to promote research NFKBIA. NFKBIA problems have been joined to many cancers such as Hodgkin`s lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and melanoma as good as breast, colon and lung cancer but own not been joined to glioblastoma until now. The researchers took hundreds of tumor samples from glioblastoma patients who had been treated at various clinics between the days of 1989 and 2009. Out of all of these samples, NFKBIA deletions were found in a whopping 25 percent. Their findings regarding EGFR were also confirmed by the study, as EGFR gene aberrations were present in one-third of the samples. It was rare that both of these genetic defects were present in one patient`s tumor, but taken together, they established a bulk of all glioblastomas observed. Patients whose tumors had either one of the defects had a lower survival rate, even after extensive therapy, compared to patients whose tumors did not have genetic defects. NFKBIA and EGFR defects also involve a particle called NF-kappa-B, which is a "transcription factor" present in all cells. In cancer cells, NF-kappa-B can stimulate proliferation and a opposition to natural cell destruction and are often excited by biochemical signals transmitted by overworking or mass-produced EGFR. This NF-kappa-B stimulation causes cancer cells to resist temozolomide treatments. NFKBIA works differently. When deleted, it interrupts a binding process between NF-kappa-B and an NF-kappa-B inhibiting protein called I-kappa-B, thus allowing it to go into the core and alter gene expression. This causes NF-kappa-B to act in the same exact manner as seen with EGFR. The researchers made their discoveries after growing glioblastoma cells and testing them with several methods to make the action of I-kappa-B in the cells. When cells with EGFR hyperactivity or NFKBIA deletion were tested, normal cell behavior and appearance was achieved, and the cells were thus less likely to resist temozolomide. "If we can see that a patient`s glioblastoma has the NFKBIA deletion, we can place that tumor for intervention with drugs that stabilize I-kappa-B, NFKBIA`s protein product," Bredel was quoted as saying. The researchers are currently working to receive an inexpensive, quick and true method to identify NFKBIA deletion.Source: Stanford University Medical CenterMissing Gene: A Reason for Common Brain Cancer? | Medical News and Health Information

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