Fed: Genetic link to tumours proven

00-00-0000
Fed: Genetic link to tumours proven

By Vera Devai

BRISBANE, Aug 27 AAP - Australian scientists have provided proof for the first timethat gene mutation is the cause of tumours in cancer sufferers.

A study conducted by scientists at the Queensland Institute for Medical Research (QIMR)has shown the defective version of the gene ATM to be the cause of cancerous tumours.

The findings were published in the journal Nature Genetics today, six months afterthe institute identified ATM mutations in up to 20 per cent of families with multiplecases of breast cancer.

Project team leader Professor Martin Lavin said the defective gene was then introducedinto mice of which 10 per cent died from cancer within 18 months to two years.

"This is a way of proving that if you carry a single copy of this gene you have a riskof getting cancer," Prof Lavin said today.

"This finally is that proof ... it provides the genetic link."

Normally the ATM gene helps the body defend against cancer by signalling when somethinggoes wrong.

The gene is so significant that if a person has two defective copies they will developa genetic disease called ataxia-telangiectasia and die from cancer before adulthood.

While the result was bad news for the one per cent of the population who carried asingle copy of the defective gene it would make screening for the mutations simpler, ProfLavin said.

The team hoped to eventually make screening cheaper and more widely available withmore people alerted to the fact they could develop cancer.

"It's been known for a long time from epidemiological studies that kids themselvesthat have the two copies of the gene have a very high risk of getting the cancer," ProfLavin said.

"What's been controversial is the epidemiological studies with their parents and otherrelatives showing that there is an increased risk from a number of tumours including breastcancer."

The team with the help of the Queensland University of Technology will continue researchinto the effects of radiation.

The ATM gene could experience chromosomal changes if exposed to radiation which hada major implication for treatment, Prof Lavin said.

AAP ved/jfs/ph/sb

KEYWORD: GENE