Scientists Find New Clue To Cancer

BOSTON, MA, Jun. 9 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have discovered that chunks of genetic material that have a regulatory function can trigger cancerous tumors, and help diagnose cancer.

A report in Nature describes recent work on microRNAs, which take the imprint of DNA but do not translate it into protein.

Greg Hannon of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York State has found that microRNAs can trigger tumors in mice.

At the same time, a team headed by Todd Golub at the Dana-Farber Cancer Center in Boston has created microRNA profiles of different types of cancer and used these profiles to identify tumors. They found that this type of diagnosis is more accurate than previous ones.

The researchers say their work can lead to a clearer picture of what causes cancer and to new treatments.

Source