Genetics
Fragments of DNA have been separated using agarose gel electrophoresis, and are now being viewed under ultraviolet light.
Cancer is fundamentally a 'genomic' disease caused by the accumulation of mutations in many genes - mutations that alter the structure, function and/or abundance of the gene product. LICR research in cancer genetics is multi-faceted. At the single gene level ('Cancer Genetics'), LICR teams are investigating which genetic mutations cause cancer, and characterizing the significance of these mutations to the course of the disease. LICR investigators are also analyzing the regulation of transcription, the first step in 'gene expression' (generation of a gene product), in which RNA is transcribed from the gene's DNA template. At the multiple gene level ('Cancer Genomics'), LICR scientists are profiling gene expression in normal and tumor tissues, and investigating how gene expression changes with cancer onset and progression. Finally, the human genome has now been sequenced but the challenging task of identifying genes and regulatory elements within that genome sequence remains. LICR has a distinguished history in genomic transcript identification through its Human Cancer Genome Project (see side-bar), now LICR investigators are mapping regulatory elements, at the single and multiple gene level. These studies are intended to identify new markers for assessing cancer-risk, for earlier cancer detection, for better prognostic and diagnostic information, as well as identifying new targets for cancer therapy
Research Areas
- Cancer Genetics
- Cancer Genomics
- Cancer Epidemiology
Patient Oriented Research
Human Papilloma Virus and the Risk of Cervical Cancer
The availability of cervical and penile cancer samples from the Hospital do Cancer, the host institution of the São Paulo Branch has allowed LICR investigators to study the presence of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) in these tumors, and establish a large epidemiological study of the natural history of these infections and the risk of cervical neoplasia. Understanding the epidemiology of HPV, the causative agent of cervical cancer, is an important step towards the development of strategies for preventing persistent HPV infections and, ultimately, cancers of the uterus, cervix, penis, anus and respiratory tract.
Gene Expression Profiling in Gastric Cancer
Gastric cancer has a high mortality rate, primarily because the appearance of symptoms, and thus cancer diagnosis, frequently occurs at a late stage. Diagnosing gastric cancer at an early stage, using gene expression differences identified by LICR investigators, is likely to lead to a lower mortality rate from early diagnosis and early treatment.