Posted: 02/09/2007--25/11/2008 || Rate this Article: 3 || Views|| Sign In || Register ||Hello Guest
A team of scientists has discovered a gene that, when it stops working, causes the appearance of colon cancer in it's sporadic (noninherited) form. This discovery is predicted to create new treatments and new ways of preventing colon cancer. These researchers found out that this particular gene can be activated again by a special medicine, increasing the vulnerability of the colon cancer. This research reconfirms that this gene, called hMLH1, has a major importance in the fight against colon cancer.
Scientists know that if gene isn't working properly it will come to the development of a type of colon cancer found at people that have no cases in their family. But when it works correctly it stops the DNA from the cells from getting damaged. It does this by producing an enzyme that detects mistakes in the DNA fixing them before the whole cell is corrupted.
If the gene deactivates, the DNA gets tainted with methylation, a substance that makes the cell reproduce itself chaotically producing malformed cells. There is a drug known as 5-azacytide that separates the methylation of the DNA and repairs the cell. But scientists can't use this drug and they already look for a new one because 5-azacytide is very toxic. This fact was discovered by analyzing several colon cancer patients. At all of them colon cancer started while the age of 50 or 60, just the average time of this kind of cancer.
It is proven that the hMLH1 gene is inactive at colon cancer patients and it's already known how to activate it again and make it work properly. After activation of this gene patients become more receptive to chemotherapy, this way increasing the chances of destroying the colon tumors they have.
There may be a way of preventing the development of the cancer, if the DNA of the cell can be protected as soon as the gene starts to deactivate.
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