Los autores de la investigación, del Cancer Genome Project en el Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (Reino Unido), creen que dicho gen puede constituir una importante diana terapéutica, tal como señala en la edición electrónica de "Nature".
Explican que la mutación no parece heredarse de los padres, sino que tiene lugar espontáneamente, tal vez provocada por la exposición al sol. En su estudio analizaron líneas celulares de tejido canceroso y sano en busca de mutaciones genéticas. A continuación, analizaron 378 muestras de tumores obtenidas de pacientes y encontraron mutaciones en el gen BRAF en 28 de ellas.
El defecto genético se identificó en el 66% de los melanomas analizados, así como en otros tipos de cáncer colorrectal y de ovario-, aunque en menor frecuencia, y no se encontró en muestras de tumores de próstata, mama, cerebro y pulmón.
Se sabe que el BRAF está implicado en el control del crecimiento celular y forma parte de un sistema de señales que instruyen a las células a dividirse.
Webs Relacionadas
Cancer Genome Project at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
http://www.sanger.ac.uk/
Nature
http://www.nature.com/
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