Our normal genetics establish the color of our eyes and hair, whether we're tall or short, thin or fat, but that's not all – our genes also could determine the changes that occur in tumors when we develop cancer.
According to a new study carried out by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James), every genetic variation that we inherit has an influence on the kinds of DNA changes within tumor cells, as cancer develops.
The team of researchers compared multiple independent tumors from people with squamous cell carcinoma, or SCC, assessing for gains and losses of DNA in tumor cells.
Study leader Amanda Toland, assistant professor of medicine and a specialist in the genetics of cancer susceptibility at the OSUCCC – James, and her colleagues analyzed 222 squamous cell carcinoma tumors from 135 organ transplant receivers.
As a group, these receptors are 65 to 250 times more likely to develop SCC than people in the general population, so the researchers looked at three or more separate tumors from 25 of them.
They compared the genetic profiles of tumors coming from the same person with those from other individuals, and looked for DNA copy number changes.
At the end of the study, they concluded that the changes in SCCs from the same patient were similar statistically, very different when compared with other patients.
Also, in some cases, in tumors from the same person, there is a certain type of genetic change that occurs, and apparently this pattern is similar for tumors from the same individual, but different when it comes to tumors from different people.
Toland said that the “data strongly support the idea that an individual's normal genetic constitution can strongly influence the genetic changes that occur when a person develops cancer.
“They may also provide another strategy to identify genetic variations within healthy individuals that may increase their odds of developing cancer.
“Overall, our findings provide strong evidence that an individual's genetic background plays a key role in driving the changes that occur in tumors during cancer development,” Toland added.
The findings were published in a recent issue of PLoS Genetics.
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