Researchers have mapped the DNA mutations in skin and lung cancer — findings that one researcher says will change how cancer is viewed.

For lung cancer, the British team found almost 23,000 mutations — one mutation for every 15 cigarettes smoked.

“This is a fundamental moment in cancer research,” said Prof. Michael Stratton from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge. “From here on in we will think about cancers in a very different way.”

Scientists knew that smoking causes genetic mutations than can start tumours. But they didn’t expect to see evidence of the genome bearing scars of every cigarette smoked. When they catalogued the mutations, they saw how cancer-causing agents in tobacco repeatedly bombard the DNA.

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They believe the technology could lead to cheap, portable breath-test devices with the potential to save large numbers of lives by spotting cancer early.
The lung cancer biomarkers were found by comparing breath samples from 40 diagnosed patients and 56 healthy individuals.
From the results, the researchers identified 42 “volatile organic compounds” (VOCs) present in the breath of 83% of cancer patients but fewer than 83% of healthy volunteers.

It showed those who drank two or more cups of tea daily had a 46 per cent lower risk of the disease compared with those who never or seldom drank tea.

Alex Ford, chief executive of The Eve Appeal, which supports patients with gynaecological cancers, said women should be aware of the signs of ovarian cancer, especially those over 50.

She said: ‘Traditionally, early diagnosis was difficult as experts didn’t agree on the symptoms and they are easily mistaken for other, much more common and less serious conditions.

Epidemiological studies suggest that green tea and its major constituent, EGCG, can provide some protection against cancer. Because these studies were very limited, the anti-cancer mechanism of green tea and EGCG was not clear. As a result, the researchers examined whether drinking EGCG (just the antioxidant infused in water) inhibited the following: expression of VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor, which is found in a variety of breast cancer types); tumor angiogenesis (thought to help tumors expand by supplying them with nutrients); and the growth of breast cancer in female mice.

A new blood tests has been developed that Yale researchers say can detect ovarian cancer with 99 per cent accuracy.

The test uses six protein biomarkers to identify proteins in the bloodstream that signal an ovarian tumour is present in the body. The test is 99.4 per cent effective.

Previous tests for ovarian cancer only used four protein biomarkers and recognized only 15 to 20 per cent of new ovarian tumours.

Scientists at the BC Cancer Agency have discovered a gene they believe can suppress the growth of tumours for a wide variety of cancers – a discovery that could lead to new treatments.

“Two groups, working independently, showed that a subpopulation of CD133+ cells within the tumor, representing just a small fraction of the overall cancer mass, behave as cancer-initiating cells, with the ability to maintain themselves in culture in an undifferentiated state, initiate tumor growth after xenotransplantation in mice, and differentiate into cancers that are phenotypically indistinguishable from the original human tumor.”