As you know, cancer cells, growing in the body, need a huge amount of nutrients, thereby "stealing" healthy tissues and destroying them. But why, if the tumors are so gluttonous, do they not take "food" from each other and do not conflict with each other, increasing more and more? The answer to this question, according to an article published in the journal Nature Communications, was found by scientists from the University of Birmingham.
The secret of cancer cells' survival is finding markers in their own DNA to suppress the self-destruction system. The article says that the fact is that most of the cancers in the body arise from a breakdown in the p53 gene, which is responsible for the synthesis of a protein that is responsible for the integrity of genetic information. In addition, the p53 gene activates the mechanism of apoptosis in cells - programmed cell death. Simply put, a self-destruct mechanism. Such cancer cells are very difficult to deal with, since conventional methods, including DNA destruction through radiation or chemotherapy, do not force them to trigger this mechanism. According to one of the study's authors, Dr. Christopher Yau.
“Thanks to this discovery, we can now use the same algorithm to test if a mechanism is broken in the DNA of cancerous tumors in patients participating in the 100,000 Genome Project. These observations can help us find new ways to fight cancer that will save the lives of more people in the future."
Now experts want to create a drug that would trigger DNA testing of cancer cells and trigger the p53 gene and the cell apoptosis program.
Based on materials from RIA Novosti
VLADIMIR KUZNETSOV