Effective treatments for two cancers may be a step closer thanks to studies of their genetic blueprints. The results of analyses of pancreatic and brain tumours are reported in two papers published online on the 5 Sep by the journal Science. Glioblastoma multiforme, known in the UK as grade 4 astrocytoma, is the most aggressive form of brain cancer. A team at Johns Hopkins University in the US has sequenced 20,000 genes from 20 different GBM tumours. It found a mutation of a single gene – IDH1 – was most common in patients aged under 35 and in those with secondary tumours.
“Patients with IDH1 mutations seem to be different from other patients with GBM, both clinically and biologically,” said Victor Velculescu, associate professor of oncology. Screening for this genetic marker may lead to better treatments.