| After decades
of cancer research, it is now well understood
that cancer is a genetic disease, which is caused
by an accumulation of defects in cellular genes.
Recent research has shown that it is not just
damage to DNA that causes cancer, but the unfortunate
combination of damage to specific genes. Many
genetic defects in lung cancer are known to be
induced by smoking or other environmental carcinogens.
In recent years, there has been a rapid rise in
the number of women diagnosed with lung cancer.
Many studies suggest that women are more vulnerable
to cigarette smoke-induced lung cancer than men
are. In addition, women who are non-smokers are
statistically more likely to develop lung cancer
than men who are non-smokers. Although smoking
is a major culprit in this unfortunate upward
trend, other genetic, social, and environmental
factors are thought to play a role in the development
of lung cancer in women. Clearly, it is necessary
to understand the genetic basis of lung cancer
in women in order to be better able to diagnose
and treat lung cancer, which kills more women
in the United States each year than breast and
ovarian cancers combined.
Gene amplifications are a specific type of cancer-causing
genetic alteration, in which extra pieces of DNA
containing multiple copies of genes are found
in chromosomes of cancer cells. Recently, new
drugs that target amplified genes in cancer cells
have been shown to be effective in treating cancer,
including Herceptin“ for certain forms of
breast cancer. Consequently, discovery of the
specific genes that are amplified in cancer cells
can potentially open doors to new therapies for
lung cancer. In this study, we propose to use
a new gene discovery method known by the acronym
ROMA to search for genes that are frequently altered
in lung cancer cells in women, and to further
study these genes to determine how they contribute
to lung cancer, with the ultimate goal of creating
diagnostic methods and therapies that are potentially
more suitable for women with lung cancer.
|
