In the hunt for new cancer drug targets, scientists from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have discovered mutations in a family of genes linked to more than a quarter of colon cancers, as well as several other common cancers including breast and lung. Their research, published in the May 21, 2004 issue of Science, reveals more options for creating personalized therapies tailored to counteract mutated gene pathways present in individual tumors."What makes this discovery significant is that we’ve found mutations that directly affect cancer development,” says Victor Velculescu, M.D., Ph.D., senior author of the study and assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. “Most gene discoveries today focus on finding increased or decreased activity of a gene that may not affect cancer progression, akin to passengers on a bus that can’t control the bus’ speed or direction. What we’ve found are the brakes of the bus.”
