Cancer Treatment Genetic Effects in Healthy Cells May Reveal Clues to Side Effects and Resistance
Researchers used DNA sequencing to map mutations in normal tissue from cancer patients undergoing different types of treatment. They found significant differences in the genetic mutations in healthy tissue, depending on whether the patients received radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or chemoradiation. The post Cancer Treatment Genetic Effects in Healthy Cells May Reveal Clues to Side Effects and…
Scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, University of Cambridge, and University College London have found that cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy can give an advantage to certain cells with specific genetic changes in healthy tissue. Using DNA sequencing, the researchers analyzed normal esophagus tissue from patients who had received various cancer treatments before surgery.
They discovered that different treatments resulted in distinct mutations in healthy tissue. The combined use of chemotherapy and radiotherapy led to a larger number of mutated normal cells in the patients. Professor Phil Jones, co-lead of the research, explained that the body is a "Darwinian battleground" where cells constantly evolve and compete for space.
Cancer treatments alter this competition, causing certain genetic mutations to enable cells to "win" or "lose." These findings, published in Nature Genetics, suggest that analyzing normal tissue from cancer patients could help researchers understand how genes regulate tissue responses to drugs, potentially leading to more effective treatments with fewer side effects.
Written by urgent.news from GEN Biotechnology's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
