Onkológia 6/2018
Cancer and genetics: friends or foes?
Cancer research has shown a great progress over the last years mainly due to comprehensive and coordinated efforts to understand the molecular basis and complex biology of individual malignancies through the application of massive technologies analyzing their entire genomes. In this context, the most prominent and perhaps the best known is The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project, which systematically examined and maped the full spectrum of genome changes occurring in human malignancies. In addition, there are genome-wide association studies (GWAS) aimed at associating genetic changes obtained by data overlap with various aspects of tumor phenotype, thereby generating a panel of genetic changes characterizing particular malignity or some of its specific attributes. Notably, the use of these approaches has also significantly contributed to further characterization of biological and clinical distinction between the childhood and adult cancers. In the long-term perspective, such projects and studies are aimed at improving preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic options for cancer.
Keywords: genetics, heredity, mutations, whole genome/exosome sequencing, childhood cancers, adult cancers, intristic and environmental factors
