Now you can identify the danger in the early stages
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in many countries. For decades, doctors and scientists around the world have been looking for ways to combat this terrible disease. Of course, there are positive results: today cancer is no longer a death sentence. However, it is too early to say that he has been defeated.
The tumor prepares for defense in advance
Many experts explain this, among other things, by the fact that cancer is a whole group of different diseases, among them there are those associated with gene damage. For example, mutations in genes known to science as BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 may be one of the causes of ovarian and breast cancer in women. These are the so-called hereditary cancers, which usually appear at a relatively young age. When studying them, scientists are faced with various riddles.
One of them was recently solved by scientists from the Department of Biology of Tumor Growth of the Petrov National Medical Research Center (NMRC).
If doctors discovered an oncological disease in a patient at the first or second stage, then the probability of complete or at least partial recovery is now already quite high. We repeat: science does not stand still. But the problem is that many types of cancer are practically asymptomatic for a long time, and therefore it is not always possible to diagnose them on time. This also applies to ovarian cancer. Women often come to see an oncologist when the tumor has already reached an impressive size. It is impossible to remove it immediately; in order to reduce the size, chemotherapy must be used. As a rule, chemotherapy lasts several weeks, after which the surgeons begin to deal with the patient.
When the visible part of the tumor is removed, usually the same treatment regimen is prescribed that was used before the operation: it is necessary to eliminate the remaining malignant cells. However, despite such intensive treatment, tumors often recur within the first year after surgery.
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Specialists of the Department of Biology of Tumor Growth under the leadership of Doctor of Medical Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Evgeny Imyanitov managed to establish the cause of this previously incomprehensible phenomenon.
Photo: Petrov National Medical Research Center. The employees of this laboratory are engaged in problems of molecular oncology
- In a tumor, in small numbers, there are cells that are known to be resistant, in other words, resistant to drugs used in chemotherapy. That is, they differ in their biological properties from the bulk of the tumor, which consists of mutated cells, says Evgeny Imyanitov. - Against the background of the death of the main tumor mass, these resistant cells begin to multiply rapidly, filling the vacated space.
So what happens? The tumor seems to know that they will fight it, and prepares for the defense in advance. It seems that, having learned about this, even a militant materialist will be able to believe in the existence of otherworldly forces.
What conclusion can be drawn from the results of the research of Professor Imyanitov and his colleagues? First and foremost, it is likely that new regimens for chemotherapeutic treatment of women with ovarian cancer should be sought. The need for long-term courses is called into question - cells sensitive to therapy die very quickly, as well as the expediency of using those drugs after surgery that seem to have shown their effectiveness in preoperative treatment.
Checking a gene for a mutation just got easier
Today it has already been established that two or three out of a hundred people have a predisposition - of course, to varying degrees - to oncological diseases. We are talking about the transmission "by nature" of genetic mutations, which most often can lead to ovarian cancer and milk mutations.
A gene is a sequence of nucleotides, of which there are several thousand. Testing it for mutation is a very difficult task. According to Evgeny Imyanitov, this process takes several months in Western Europe and the United States.
- Imagine that on some page of a voluminous book in some word letters can be confused. To be sure whether this is so or not, you have to flip through the entire book, says the professor.
Photo: Petrov National Medical Research Center. Professor Evgeny Imyanitov
But as a result of long-term research, after analyzing the medical history of a large number of people with hereditary cancer, the staff of the department of biology of tumor growth found out: in representatives of many peoples inhabiting our country, and other states of the former USSR, in eighty percent of cases, mutations are in a certain position, they are not scattered throughout the gene. And this means, it is much easier to establish whether there is damage or not.
“Now, figuratively speaking, we know on which page to look for confused letters,” the scientist smiles.
Geneticists have found that damage to the BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 genes is more common in our compatriots than in Western Europeans and Americans, but, as we now know, it is much easier to detect it.
“This is due to the fact that throughout the history of the multinational Russian Empire, the percentage of mixed marriages here was very small,” says Evgeny Imyanitov.
A patient who wants to find out if he is predisposed to hereditary cancer, donates blood for analysis. Today the Center is fully equipped with modern equipment allowing to carry out such complex research. The process usually takes three days.
- Most often, patients, usually between the ages of thirty and forty, are referred to us by oncologists. That is, these women have already been diagnosed with some kind of disease, - says the press secretary of the National Medical Research Center Irina Stolyarova. - Before starting the study, the patient fills out a large questionnaire, where she also indicates information about her ancestors.
By the way
In 2013, the famous American actress Angelina Jolie, a carrier of the BRCA mutation, removed her mammary glands. Thus, she wanted to be saved from the type of cancer from which her mother and grandmothers died at a relatively young age. Doctors did not diagnose the actress with a terrible disease, but stated that the likelihood of its occurrence is very high.
Russian doctors and scientists are cautious about the so-called preventive operations.
DAVID GENKIN