Articles Tagged ‘DNA’

Matthew Meyerson discusses TCGA lung squamous cell cancer study

Color head shot of Matthew Meyerson, TCGA investigator, wearing glasses.

Matthew Meyerson, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of pathology from the Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Mass., and associate professor of pathology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, led the writing committee for The Cancer Genome Atlas project on lung squamous cell cancer. He recently discussed his perspective on the findings.

Microbes within our bodies may cause or contribute to cancer

Salmonella typhi_Credit CDC

The Human Microbiome Project (HMP) investigators will sequence, at minimum, 3,000 bacterial genomes that represent the human microbiome. To date, there are more than 1,000 bacterial genomes at various stages of sequencing.

New Tumors in Cancer Survivors

scene from animation: patient undergoing radiation treatment for cancerous tumor

While some cancer survivors are more likely to develop a new tumor than others, little is known about the complex interaction of factors that lead to this increase in risk. The chance of developing a second cancer can be affected by a variety of factors, including shared causal factors, such as lifestyle and environmental exposures, genetic susceptibility, and combinations of risk factors including gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. As more research focuses on the issues faced by cancer survivors, scientists hope to provide answers that will allow for improved therapy and care. Researchers also believe that knowledge gained from these studies will improve the quality of life for all cancer patients.