HRB funded researchers find new cancer genetic link and lead international cancer genetic study
21 September 2009
Building on the findings of a HRB funded study on Multiple Myeloma, Irish researchers will lead an international research collaboration as part of the International Multiple Myeloma Consortium (IMMC)
Ireland has a higher incidence of the cancer Multiple Myeloma than the UK, Canada and most other EU countries. It makes up about 18% of all cancers here which affect the blood, bone marrow and lymph nodes. There are more than 300 cases in Ireland each year, with over 200 fatalities.
A recent HRB-funded study involving Professor Mark Lawlor and Dr Paul Browne at St James Hospital, Prof Anthony Staines, at Dublin City University, and Prof Stephen Chanock, at the National Cancer Institute, USA has indicated that defects in DNA repair genes may significantly contribute to the development of this life threatening disease.
'The results are very promising', says Professor Lawlor. 'The study has allowed us to implicate for the first time genetic changes in DNA repair genes as an important factor in the origin of a disease that is increasing in incidence in the Irish population.'
Commenting on the results, which were published in the journals Human Molecular Genetics and Blood, Prof Stephen Chanock, at the National Cancer Institute, USA and a collaborator on the study, said;
'We are excited to find that genetic variation in the genes that repair DNA contribute to cancer risk. This gives us new clues to pursue for diagnosis, treatment and ultimately prevention of this type of cancer.'
After speaking at the Interlymph Conference in Vancouver, Canada, the Irish research group was chosen to lead a collaborative study as part of the International Multiple Myeloma Consortium (IMMC) that would comprehensively describe the role of DNA repair and DNA damage response genes in myeloma development. Part of the research will look at how genes and the environment interact in order to trigger the development of the disease.
'We have already shown how people working in certain jobs, notably farmers, printers and cleaners, are at increased risk of myeloma, due to different environmental exposures', said Prof Anthony Staines,at Dublin City University. 'This research will help us to understand whether changes in more than one gene can affect your risk of getting myeloma or whether and genes allied with particular environmental effects can increase your risk of developing the disease.'
