Research gets to root of cancer gene

A joint Irish Cancer Society and University College Cork team has found a way to show how a critical cancer-causing gene found in acute myeloid leukemia can survive in the body — meaning a cure is one step closer to reality.

This specific type of cancer, which is diagnosed in 80 Irish children and adults a year, starts inside the bone marrow and grows from cells that in a healthy body turn into white blood cells.

When this occurs, the bone marrow stops to work properly, making sufferers more prone to infection and other serious illnesses.

A long-term study led by UCC Professor of Biochemistry Thomas Cotter and ICS research scholar Joanna Stanicka has found this cancer survives in the body by generating reactive oxygen molecules.

This then allows a tumour to grow in “an uncontrolled and aggressive manner”.

The study findings were presented for the first time over the weekend at an international cancer fatalities conference in Singapore, and will be published in the peer-reviewed journal PLoS ONE on July 13.

Linked research by Prof Cotter in the 1990s focussed on how the same cancer-causing gene can block the “suicide gene” defence mechanism the body uses to kill off malfunctioning cells.

ICS head of research Prof John Fitzpatrick said: “The ICS has been committed to cancer research in the area of acute myeloid leukemia for over 20 years and these results mark an exciting milestone in our journey.

“This research is giving hope for affected leukemia patients in Ireland.”

Over the past 50 years, the ICS has contributed more than €30m to cancer research, helping to make over 650 vital breakthroughs.

* Further information about the registered charity is available at www.cancer.ie or 1850-60-60-60.