As you know, cancer cells grow in the body, need a huge amount of nutrients, “robbing” the healthy tissues and destroying them. But why, if the tumors are voracious, they do not take “food” from each other and do not conflict with each other, more and more increasing? The answer to this question, according to an article published in the journal Nature Communications, found scientists from the University of Birmingham.
The secret to the survival of cancer cells is the presence in their DNA markers to suppress the operation of the system of self-destruction. The article says that the fact that the majority of cancerous tumors in the body occurs due to a fault in the gene p53, which is responsible for protein synthesis, responsible for the integrity of the genetic information. In addition, p53 gene enables the cells apoptosis – programmed cell death. Simply put, the self-destruct mechanism. Such cancer cells is very difficult to fight, as conventional techniques, including DNA damage with irradiation or chemotherapy, don’t force them to launch this mechanism. As stated by one of the authors of the study Dr Christopher Yau,
“Due to this discovery we can now use the same algorithm to check for broken mechanism in the DNA of tumours in patients participating in the project “100 thousands of genomes”. These observations may help us to find new methods of combating cancer, which will save the lives of more people in the future.”
Now experts want to create the drug, which ran the DNA of cancer cells and start the gene p53 and apoptosis.
Based on materials of RIA “news”
Why cancer doesn’t kill himself?
Vladimir Kuznetsov