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Cancer is considered a problem of the genome because it arises from changes in the DNA within cells, leading to uncontrolled cell growth. These changes, often referred to as mutations, can alter the way cells grow and multiply, turning healthy cells into cancerous ones.
However, it’s important to note that while cancer is a genetic disease, the genetic component is just one piece of the puzzle. Environmental factors play a significant role in causing these genetic changes. For instance, exposures to certain chemicals, radiation, and lifestyle choices can cause damage to DNA, leading to mutations that can initiate cancer.
According to research, heritable cancers account for just five to ten percent of all cancers. The other 90 to 95 percent are initiated by factors in the exposome, which includes everything your body is exposed to throughout your life. These factors in turn trigger genetic mutations.
In essence, the genome, exposome, and metabolome (all the chemical byproducts of the process of metabolism) operate together in a feedback loop as cancer develops and spreads. This multi-omics perspective, considering the genome, exposome, and metabolome in unison when thinking about cancer, is showing promise for finding treatments and for overcoming the limitations of looking at only one of these factors.
Therefore, while cancer is indeed a problem of the genome, it’s also deeply intertwined with environmental and metabolic factors. Understanding this complex interplay is crucial for developing effective prevention and treatment strategies.
Source: Conversation with Bing, 4/1/2024
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The answer you need may be found in this post:
How To Better Treat Cancer: Cancer Omics – Bioinformatics Hub
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The central idea is that genetic alterations play a critical role in cancer development. This field has grown in importance as our understanding of the human genome has advanced. The genetic basis of cancer is becoming a key element in our diagnostic and treatment methods. Much of this information comes from tumor samples, which are a mosaic of different tumor cell genomes. It is likely that in the future, knowledge of an individual’s genetic predisposition to a certain cancer and knowledge of the somatic genetic changes in a specific tumor, will guide decisions on cancer prevention and treatment. This could potentially involve tailoring drug prescriptions to an individual’s tumor genome, or in certain cases, correcting the genetic defect in the tumor.
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