Largest Genetic Study of Metastasis Opens New Doors

More than 50% of the cancer diagnoses each year are curable. However, metastatic cases continue to have the worst prognosis and highest resistance to treatment.

The journal Nature has published the largest genetic study ever conducted about cancer metastasis. 

The result shows that, from a genetic point of view, metastasis is less diverse than primary tumours. For example, thousands of mutations are identified in each patient but only a few dozen are causal, which means they lead to cancer

The good news is that most of the mutations that make a healthy cell turn into a tumor are almost the same in primary tumors as in their spread. However, researchers have not yet found the additional factors that can cause metastasis to appear.

The results have also shown that complete sequencing of metastasis can show ways to reuse drugs already approved for other uses.

Article written by Sandra Pulido