A Mathematical Formula For Cancer Progression
Posted by ~Ray @ 2008-09-25 01:10:33
Tumor progression can now be mapped less to mathematical standards and more to individual patients according to a new study by researchers at Harvard and Johns Hopkins Universities. The study provides a new paradigm in calculating tumor development showing that it appears to be driven by mutations in many genes.
Our understanding of the progression of cancer has long been based on streamlined models where cancer is driven by mutations in only a few genes. Niko Beerenwinkel et al show how tumor progression can be driven by hundreds of genes. As many as 20 different mutated genes might be responsible for driving an individual tumor’s development.
Beerenwinkel et al used a case of colon cancer to derive their results. Cancer progression proceeds stochastically from a hit genetically altered cell to billions of invasive cells through a series of clonal expansions. According to their model cancer progression is driven by mutations in many genes each of which confers only a small selective advantage. It was found that the measure it takes for a benign tumor to transform into a malignant tumor is dominated by the selective advantage per mutation and by the number of cancer genes whereas tumor size and mutation rate have smaller impacts.
This new copy could help explain the large amount of variation between individual tumors that has desire puzzled researchers and clinicians. The increasing amount of high-throughput molecular data that is being generated has resulted in new challenges for understanding complex biosystems such as cancer. New mathematical models like this one can provide unique insights that simplify interpretation and at the same time answer important biomedical questions.
CITATION: Beerenwinkel N. Antal T. Dingli D. Traulsen A. Kinzler KW et al. (2007) Genetic progression and the waiting time to cancer. PLoS Comput Biol 3(11): e225 doi:10.1371/journal pcbi.0030225
Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <blockquote> <sub> <sup><iframe><img><object><embed>
We do offer unpaid internships in programming and science journalism to college students or recent graduates seeking to build up their portfolios. Development interns will need to be proficient in PHP and CSS and provide samples of work done in a multi-user environment platform and sign a non-disclosure agreement. Science journalists will need to provide samples from a university newspaper or professional publication and list which semester they want to bring home the bacon. Please use the contact info available in the footer of the page. [ADVERTHERE]Related article:
http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_account/a_mathematical_formula_for_cancer_progression
0 Comments:
No comments have been posted yet!
|
