Science / Medicine : Cancer Clue Discovered
Scientists reported they have found a strong clue to the possible location of the gene abnormality that causes kidney cancer, a malignancy that that kills nearly 10,000 Americans each year. The findings could speed the actual location of the abnormality itself, which would help scientists better understand the disease and lead to improved treatments, the researchers said.
The scientists found a genetic linkage between kidney cancer and a relatively unknown ailment known as Von Hippel Lindau disease, whose victims are prone to a variety of cancers.
Dr. Bernd R. Seizinger, a geneticist at Massachusetts General Hospital who headed the study, said the research suggests that the gene that causes Von Hippel Lindau disease and the one linked to kidney cancer “are one and the same gene or very close together.”
The researchers believe that by using the new genetic marker as a signpost, they will be able to zero in further on the actual genetic abnormality that causes kidney cancer.
Also, they predict that they should be able to develop tests within a year to screen fetuses for Von Hippel disease and to test people who belong to families in which the disease has occurred to identify those at high risk.
In a study published in the British journal Nature, geneticists at the Massachusetts General Hospital examined genetic material from 203 members of nine families in which 71 people had developed Von Hippel disease.
