Taken from: http://www.examiner.com/x-14846-Detroit-Womens-Health-Examiner~y2009m10d9-Breast-Cancer-breakthrough-scientists-use-DNA-decoding-for-major-finding


October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and a major breakthrough in scientific research should help increase awareness of the fight to end the terrible disease that could take the lives of over 40,000 women this year. Canadian scientists are using DNA decoding to learn more about metastatic tumors and how they spread through the body.

For the first time, scientists were able to decode all 3 billion letters in the DNA sequence of a metastatic breast cancer tumor. This type of tumor accounts for about 10% of all breast cancers. In doing this, they were able to find the mutations that cause the cancer to spread. This method could also explain how the cancer begins in the first place.

The findings and research have many in the medical field excited about a possible cure. "I never thought I would see this in my lifetime," said Dr. Samuel Aparicio who is the head of the breast cancer research program in the British Columbia Cancer Agency. "This is a watershed event in our ability to understand the causes of breast cancer and to develop medicine for our patients." Aparicio's team used the latest in DNA sequencing technology to study the changes in a single patient's breast cancer tumor over a 9 year period. 32 mutations were found in the metastatic tumor. The team compared those mutations with those of the original tumor. Only 5 of the 32 mutations could have been present in the original tumor. This led scientists to believe that those mutations were responsible for starting the cancer.

The study's major findings will be published in Nature Science Journal sometime this week. It seems fitting that a major breakthrough in the fight against breast cancer was discovered in October, Breast Cancer Awareness month. Not only will the findings bring more awareness to the disease, they will also inspire more hope for a cure.