BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM A study published in Nature provides the first experimental evidence that inherited genetics shape not just whether cancer starts, but how it evolves once it does. Researchers led by Duncan Odom at the CRUK Cambridge Institute exposed four genetically distinct strains of mice to identical doses of diethylnitrosamine, a liver carcinogen found in tobacco smoke and some processed foods. All four groups got the same dose at the same age, 15 days old. Nearly 600 tumors were then analyzed to trace how each cancer had developed. Cancers in the different strains took different genetic routes. Most tumors ended up activating the same cancer-promoting biological processes, but they reached that point through different mutations and genetic changes. The genetic variation between strains was relatively modest, comparable to the genetic diversity found in human populations, and yet the differences in tumor evolution were substantial. What it means for treatment Sarah Aitken, an Assistant Professor at Yale School of Medicine who worked on the study at the CRUK Cambridge Institute, said the findings matter for both screening and drug selection. “How people respond to cancer drugs is likely to differ depending on their inherited genetics, and so we may need to tailor our diagnostics and treatments accordingly,” she said. The team also suggests this extends to how patients respond to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. “We’ve been able to show for the first time the extent to which genetic background influences both the mutation processes and the pathways leading to tumor development,” said Odom, who now leads research at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. Sam Godfrey, Cancer Research UK’s research information lead, called it a “fascinating hint” that inherited genes “might have a big influence on the way that cancers develop after DNA damage.” The study was in mice. Whether and how the findings translate to humans remain open questions. What they do suggest is that cancer screening built around shared environmental risks may not be accounting for the full picture of who develops cancer, and why. Source study: Nature–Genetic background sets the trajectory of experimental cancer evolution     Did this solution stand out? Share it with a friend or support our mission by becoming an Emissary.The post How inherited genetics shape the way cancer forms and evolves first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.