Good news for cancer treatment

Scientists are really happy with a new drug that uses genetic data to fight the formation of specific tumours. Hopefully, drug manufacturers will be able to create drugs to individual cancers that will stop them and even reverse the growth of existing tumours. It is one of the most significant advances in our knowledge of DNA to deal with the root causes of disease.

For years scientists have been assembling vast amounts of genetic information through the human genome sequencing project. As part of the latest investigation, scientists in California developed a drug to block the effects of a specific gene mutation, B-RAF, linked to malignant melanoma – one of the most dangerous cancers. In a recent test, tumours diminished by at least 30 per cent in 24 out of 32 patients with B-RAF mutations, and disappeared entirely in two other patients.

A study of the chemical process behind the drug demonstrates the potential for quick development of similar treatments dealing with the particular genetic mutations that affect different types of tumour. The pharmaceutical company Plexxikon is now working on a test that can diagnose which patients suffering from malignant melanoma have the B-RAF mutation and would benefit from the drug.

Sir Mark Walport, director of the Wellcome Trust, agreed with suggestions that the discovery was a ‘penicillin moment’ for cancer researchers. However, he added that the fight against the illness is not finished yet. In fact, cancer is complicated.

 Adapted from an article by Alastair Jamieson in The Telegraph. Picture of human melanoma cells by Getty Images.