An international group of scientists conducted a complete study of the DNA of cancer cells in order to identify the causes of malignant tumors. Experts have discovered new mechanisms and genetic mutations contributing to the development of the disease, Science Alert reports.
Geneticists determined the nucleotide sequence in the genomes of 38 types of cancer in 2.8 thousand patients. It has been found that the disease can be caused by thousands of different combinations of genetic mutations, 80 percent of which are related to age and the rest to heredity and lifestyle. Moreover, some types of cancer begin to develop decades before diagnosis.
In five percent of the cases, the scientists did not find any known cancer-causing mutations, indicating an as-yet-undiscovered genetic cause of the tumors. At the same time, different forms of cancer, such as breast and prostate, can have similar mechanisms of development, which means that they can be treated with similar methods.
According to the results, genetic analysis helps identify up to five percent of cancerous tumors that are not detected by routine diagnostics. It also allows identification of misdiagnosis.
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