The 'dark matter' of biology could help medical professionals determine which cancer treatments will work best for a specific patient, new research claims.
Two new studies published simultaneously in the journal Nature reveal how epigenetics plays a central role in the development and progression of bowel cancer.
Professor Trevor Graham, Director of the Centre for Evolution and Cancer at the ICR, explains: "We’ve unveiled an extra level of control for how cancers behave – something we liken to cancer’s ‘dark matter’."
Researchers collected 1,373 samples from 30 bowel cancers and looked at epigenetic changes as cancers evolved.
It was found that these 'dark matter' epigenetic changes are highly common in cells which have become cancerous and occur around genes already known to drive cancer.
Professor Graham continues: "For years our understanding of cancer has focused on genetic mutations which permanently change the DNA code. But our research has shown that the way the DNA folds up can change which genes are read without altering the DNA code and this can be very important in determining how cancers behave."
Researchers hope that this work could change the way people think about cancer and its treatment.
By testing for both genetic and epigenetic changes, medical professionals may be able to much more accurately predict which treatments will work best for a particular person’s cancer, say the researchers.
Professor Andrea Sottoriva, Head of the Computational Biology Research Centre at Human Technopole in Milan, who co-led the research, said: “When we study how cancers evolve over time, we tend to look at DNA mutations, but it’s clear that epigenetic changes also enable cancer to adapt and develop a survival advantage over other cells.
"We have for the first time been able to map epigenetic changes alongside the accumulation of DNA mutations as a colorectal tumour evolves.
"This provides exciting opportunities to create new treatments for cancer that don’t target the effects of DNA mutations, but instead the epigenetic changes which determine how genes are read.”
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here .
