New Study Could Help Beat Mesothelioma
05:58 AM EST Sat Apr 16 2005
Australian researchers say a new three-year study into the genetic makeup of cancerous mesothelioma cells could lead to a breakthrough in the fight against the deadly cancer.
Researchers from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the University of Western Australia will use cutting edge gene technology to study genetic changes in tumorous cells.
Australia has the world's highest rates of the deadly cancer, in which cancerous cells grow around the lining of the chest and lungs.
Dr Andrew Holloway of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre said people with mesothelioma wasted away quickly, suffered shortness of breath to the point where they could not stand up and experienced crippling chest pain.
"It's a terrible, terrible cancer," he said.
Dr Holloway said new comparative genomic rehabilitation (CGH) technology would give his team a better view of the DNA of the cancerous cells than they had ever had before.
Cancerous cells created extra copies of some DNA and did away with other sections of DNA, and this helped promote cancerous growth.
"(CGH) enables you to look at the genome in a density of (genetic) markers that hasn't been possible before," he said.
Dr Holloway said the project would produce the largest data set of its kind in the world and should give researchers a much better understanding of the origins and development of mesothelioma.
"The Australian economy will need $5 billion to fund the compensation, treatment and management of mesothelioma in the community," he said.
"This research is critical in working toward minimising these costs, with the eventual hope of developing tools for earlier diagnosis and treatment."
*** POSTED APRIL 18, 2005 ***