Gene that increases pancreatic cancer risk identified
December 30th, 2011 - 8:41 am ICT by IANSWashington, Dec 30 (IANS) A gene that increases the risk of pancreatic cancer has been identified, experts say.
Mutations in the ATM gene may increase the hereditary risk for pancreatic cancer, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University have found. The findings were published in the latest edition of the journal Cancer Discovery Thursday.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most morbid cancers, with less than five percent of those diagnosed with the disease surviving to five years.
Approximately 10 percent of patients come from families with multiple cases of pancreatic cancer.
“There was significant reason to believe this clustering was due to genetics, but we had not, to this point, been able to find the causative genes that explained the cluster of pancreatic cancer for a majority of these families,” Xinhua quoted lead author Alison Klein, associate professor at Johns Hopkins University, as saying.
Klein and colleagues identified ATM gene mutations in two kindreds with familial pancreatic cancer.
He said knowledge of the presence of the ATM gene could lead to better screening for pancreatic cancer, the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death.
- Lynch syndrome's mutated genes raise risk of cancers - Feb 15, 2012
- Genome code for most common form of pediatric brain cancer cracked - Dec 17, 2010
- Gene variant that influences chronic kidney disease identified - Mar 10, 2011
- New discovery shows promise against pancreatic cancer - Dec 16, 2010
- ALS causing gene discovered - Dec 10, 2010
- Scientists crack genetic code for form of pancreatic cancer - Jan 21, 2011
- New way to stop pancreatic cancer in early stages discovered - Jan 12, 2011
- Genes linked to hereditary breast and ovary cancer identified - Feb 19, 2011
- Having multiple family members with pancreatic cancer increases risk - Jan 13, 2010
- India witnessing rise in pancreatic cancer, say doctors - Oct 06, 2011
- New genetic marker of ovarian cancer risk discovered - Jul 21, 2010
- Breast cancer test not for all women, say experts - Jan 16, 2010
- Breast cancer in young women 'ups risk of disease in relatives' - Sep 30, 2010
- Compound to starve cancers of sugar-based building blocks found - Nov 19, 2010
- New breast and ovarian cancer susceptibility gene identified - Apr 22, 2010
Tags: alison, associate professor, atm gene, cancer researchers, cancer risk, cancers, causative genes, colleagues, discovery, gene mutations, genetics, hereditary risk, johns hopkins university, journal cancer, kindreds, pancreatic cancer, presence, xinhua