Finding cancer's Achilles heel: identifying & attacking trunk mutations

ack

VIP/Donor & WBF Founding Member
May 6, 2010
6,774
1,198
580
Boston, MA
I think this is fascinating news, but who's going to pay for bespoke treatments

The problem is cancers are not made up of identical cells - they are a heavily mutated, genetic mess and samples at different sites within a tumour can look and behave very differently.

They grow a bit like a tree with core "trunk" mutations, but then mutations that branch off in all directions. It is known as cancer heterogeneity.

The international study developed a way of discovering the "trunk" mutations that change antigens - the proteins that stick out from the surface of cancer cells.

Professor Charles Swanton, from the UCL Cancer Institute, added: "This is exciting. Now we can prioritise and target tumour antigens that are present in every cell - the Achilles heel of these highly complex cancers.

This takes personalised medicine to its absolute limit, where each patient would have a unique, bespoke treatment"

There are two approaches being suggested for targeting the trunk mutations. The first is to develop cancer vaccines for each patient that train the immune system to spot them. The second is to "fish" for immune cells that already target those mutations and swell their numbers in the lab, and then put them back into the body.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-35718491
 

Billy Shears

Well-Known Member
Jul 27, 2015
255
1
150
Any treatment that offers a more targeted approach is very good news indeed....
 

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