June 10, 2002. Copyright 2002. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

British scientists make breakthrough in skin cancer research

LONDON, June 10, Graphic News: British scientists have discovered the genetic mutation that is responsible for most cases of malignant melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer.

Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute near Cambridge say the mutation of a gene called BRAF is so clear-cut that they are already looking for drugs to block the action of the defective gene -- and provide a treatment for melanoma, which kills 1,100 people a year in Britain and 7,400 a year in the United States. BRAF is found in 70 percent of malignant melanomas and 10 per cent of colon cancers.

Professor Mike Stratton, one of the leaders of the Cancer Genome Project at the Sanger Institute, said the work showed how a mutation can cause a healthy cell to divide uncontrollably by flicking on its Ògrowth switchÓ permanently.

ÒThe most exciting thing about this discovery is that it could be a direct lead to new treatments for malignant melanomas,Ó he said. ÒBecause mutated BRAF is permanently stuck in the ÔonÕ position, we have already started searching for drugs that will switch it back off.Ó

The Wellcome Trust, the worldÕs richest medical charity, is sponsoring a £36 million ($53 million) twin-track approach to screening many thousands of potential drugs for activity against BRAF, with part carried out by a contract research organisation and part by the Institute for Cancer ResearchÕs drug development unit. However, Professor Stratton predicted that it would be at least five years before a treatment was available for clinical trials on patients.

The breakthrough was announced Monday in an online report from the journal Nature.
/ENDS

Source: Nature