New Delhi: Researchers have discovered DNA fragments that aid in the spread of cancer in a manner similar to "villains in a Bond film". Knowing how these fragments of extrachromosomal DNA, or ecDNA, behave has been called a "game-changer" because it could change how some of the most aggressive tumors currently being treated are treated.
Although the existence of ecDNA has been known for some time, its importance in cancer has only recently emerged. These results were the results of the Cancer Grand Challenge.
A project supported by the National Cancer Institute in the US and Cancer Research UK. £20 million of funding was secured to investigate the role of ecDNA in cancer.
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EcDNA is believed to be "responsible for a significant number of the more advanced, most serious cancers affecting people today," according to Stanford University professor Paul Mitchell.
"If we can stop their activities, we can stop the spread of these cancers," Mitchell continued. It was also discovered that extrachromosomal DNA contributes to the development of drug resistance in tumors.
Extrachromosomal DNA, protein-based structures that act as carriers of genetic information from cell to cell, remain outside the chromosomes.
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According to research, ecDNA behaves as cancer-causing genes that have somehow become separated from a person's chromosomes and have begun to act in ways that violate the laws of genetics, according to research from Stanford University. said geneticist Howard Chang.
Chang compared ecDNA to the villains of a Bond film, saying, "They act like the villains in a Bond film. At the beginning of a film, you see various explosions, deaths and disasters without understanding why or who is to blame." Have to give in. At some point, the antagonist who ultimately caused all this mayhem is revealed.
Strange phenomena such as rapid spread of tumors or cancer developing resistance to treatments that had been successful in the past were observed by scientists. "For a long time, we've identified the culprits of these incidents. It's ecDNA," Chang continued.
A tumor develops when normal genes in a cell go awry, causing uncontrolled cell division. Oncogenes are these genes, and many drugs and treatments can target them.
Extrachromosomal DNA that was initially believed to be oncogenes in the most aggressive forms of cancer has now been identified.
Interestingly, when a tumor is given drug treatment, ecDNA can "almost completely disappear" from it, but reappear later. However, researchers remain optimistic about developing a strategy to eliminate ecDNA from patients with tumors.
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We have found a protein that helps hold ecDNA together and are now trying to identify its Achilles heel.
To counter ecDNA and prevent its pro-carcinogenic activities, we will conduct more tests in the coming years, he continued.