Web-Based Cancer Research Reaps Reward

[Guest guest]

Hi Group,

I thought this was a very interesting tidbit proving something some of

us have known all along. The Internet has power to disseminate and

consolidate information and research. This article mentions three

types of bone marrow cancer, but only discusses MPD. I wonder if

anyone in our group participated in this study and can tell us if CML

was one of the " bone marrow cancers " studied.

Does anyone have access to to the journal Cancer Cell? I'd love to see

the entire article.

Best,

Web-Based Cancer Research Reaps Reward

TUESDAY, March 29 (HealthDay News) -- A gene mutation that causes

three related kinds of bone marrow cancer has been identified by U.S.

researchers, who used the Internet to collect blood and tissue samples

from far-flung patients.

The discovery of this mutation in what's called a " tyrosine kinase "

gene may help in the development of targeted, molecular therapies to

treat these deadly myeloproliferative disorders (MPD), caused by an

acquired mutation in blood cells. Scientists have spent decades

searching for the cause of these diseases.

Currently, there is no effective treatment for MPDs.

In their study, researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, both in Boston, used the Internet to

collect a large number of blood DNA samples and cheek tissue from

patients with these bone marrow cancers.

First, the researchers distributed information about the study via the

Web through a support group for MPD patients. Interested patients who

mailed in a consent form were sent a kit for taking blood and

cheek-swab samples at their next visit to the doctor. The completed

kits were then mailed back to the researchers for analysis.

In less than a year, the researchers obtained samples from 345 people.

Rapid, large-scale DNA sequencing was used to search for mutations in

tyrosine kinase genes, which act like on-off switches for cell growth.

Tyrosine kinases have been shown to be stuck in the " on " position in a

number of cancers.

" This discovery represents a tremendous step towards understanding the

molecular pathophysiology of these diseases and developing a treatment

for these cancers, " study co-author Dr. D. Gilliland, an oncology

researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital, said in a prepared statement.

The study appears in the April issue of the journal Cancer Cell.

More information

The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about myeloproliferative

disorders.