Lung cancer treatment could focus on genetic breakthrough

Lung cancer research may soon be able to incorporate a new scientific discovery about the genetic causes of the disease.

Researchers at Seoul National University in South Korea found that two genes can fuse together to create a hybrid gene which can bring about the onset of tumours in a patient.

"We showed that genome sequencing technology could reveal a previously hidden cause of human cancer, which can be used as a therapeutic target for personal cancer therapy," said the report's senior author Dr Jeong-Sun Seo.

The findings could be significant as doctors explained that even though smoking is the causative factor in the majority of lung cancer cases, nearly one in four patients have never used tobacco.

According to Cancer Research UK, lung cancer is the second most common form of the disease in the UK, with smoking killing more than five times the amount of people that road accidents, murders and suicides are responsible for each year.

© Adfero Ltd

Cancer treatment news : 31 December 2011