WEDNESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have completed
the first genome sequencing of melanoma, an aggressive and
frequently fatal form of skin cancer.
Understanding the genomic landscape that contributes to melanoma
development could provide new insight into tumor biology and
therapeutic resistance, the study authors said. They believe the
discoveries may spur the development of new treatments for
melanoma, which will likely kill more than 9,000 people in the
United States this year, according to cancer experts.
In a study published online May 9 in the journal
Nature, the scientists describe sequencing 25 human metastatic melanomas -- cancers that have spread -- and finding a common thread between melanomas and breast cancer, plus evidence that the rate of mutation in melanoma varies with the level of ultraviolet light.
The authors found PREX2, a gene associated with breast cancer,
in about 14 percent of the melanoma tumors. "This is a light-bulb
moment in research," said study author Dr. Lynda Chin, chairman of
the Department of Genomic Medicine at the University of Texas MD
Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Potentially, this could change
"the paradigm of how we understand what is happening in cancer,"
she added.
The research showed that PREX2 starts directing cancerous
activity when genetic mutations change or turn off cell functions.
Other mutations also were identified for the first time in the
studied tumors.
The next challenge will be to understand how the PREX2 gene
makes a melanoma tumor grow, Chin said. "PREX2 is a large gene, and
we're not sure what aspects are critical to cancer development. We
have the 'what' but now we need the 'why' and the 'how.'"
Their study also helps lay the groundwork for a new definition
of cancer that includes the genetic makeup of a tumor as well as
the specific organ site.
Those characteristics will also direct the development of future
cancer treatments, Chin said. "This adds another layer to how we
approach cancer. We will be saying, first tell me the genetic
makeup of the tumor, and then tell me the tumor's origin," she
said.
Cancers are described now by a system based only on a tumor's
location and its microscopic anatomy. Chin says the research shows
how genetic information adds a new element that can help understand
and classify tumors more accurately.
The authors also learned that the rate of mutation is highest in
people with chronic sun exposure. This fits other evidence that
links development of the disease to ultraviolet light.
In the United States, melanoma has increased over the past three
decades. It is one of the more common cancers among young people,
and more than 76,000 new cases will be diagnosed across all age
groups this year, according to the American Cancer Society.
While the study has uncovered important new information, Chin
warned that the melanoma genome is highly complex. For instance,
the researchers saw what she described as a great deal of
"structural rearrangement" on the genome. It is unclear what that
means.
"It's like a bomb's gone off and everything's in the wrong order," she said. "And we're not sure how to put it all back together."
Dr. Darrell Rigel, a clinical professor of dermatology at New
York University Medical Center, said it is interesting that the
researchers found a breast cancer gene in a melanoma tumor. "We
group melanomas together as one type of cancer now, but in five to
10 years, we'll most likely see them as many different types of
cancer," he said.
Rigel also said he was encouraged that the researchers may have
found another potential target for drug therapy.
More information
Find out more about melanoma at the
American Cancer Society.