By Baek Byung-yeul
A joint research team has succeeded in identifying one of the causes of lung cancer in non-smokers, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) said Friday.
The researchers said they have found that fusion oncogenes which cause lung cancer are often acquired in the early decades of life in non-smokers and those later mutate into cancer-causing genes.
Smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer, but the rates of lung cancer among lifelong non-smokers have been increasing.
As the study proved that non-smokers can develop lung cancer from their early years, the researchers said their study can be utilized for the development of measures for early diagnosis of lung cancer in non-smokers.
The joint research team is comprised of a KAIST team, led by Prof. Ju Young-seok; a team from the College of Medicine at Seoul National University, led by Prof. Kim Young-tae; and other researchers.
Their paper, titled "Tracing oncogene rearrangements in the mutational history of lung adenocarcinoma," was published on the website of bio journal CELL, Thursday.
"Analysis of mutation times revealed that fusions and point mutations of canonical oncogenes were often acquired in the early decades of life. During a long latency, cancer-related genes were disrupted or amplified by complex rearrangements," Ju said.
Lung cancer is usually classified into small cell lung cancer, which occurs among heavy smokers, and non-small cell lung cancer. The research team analyzed 138 genomes of lung adenocarcinoma, a type of non-small cell lung cancer.
"By analyzing big data of cancer-related genomic rearrangements, we could verify the mutational process that promotes lung cancer in non-smokers," the professor added.
For their study, the researchers used the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information's (KISTI) super computer Nurion to analyze the data.
The KAIST said the research was conducted with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Suh Kyungbae Science Foundation and the supporters association of the College of Medicine at Seoul National University.
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| KAIST Prof. Ju Young-seok |
The researchers said they have found that fusion oncogenes which cause lung cancer are often acquired in the early decades of life in non-smokers and those later mutate into cancer-causing genes.
Smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer, but the rates of lung cancer among lifelong non-smokers have been increasing.
As the study proved that non-smokers can develop lung cancer from their early years, the researchers said their study can be utilized for the development of measures for early diagnosis of lung cancer in non-smokers.
The joint research team is comprised of a KAIST team, led by Prof. Ju Young-seok; a team from the College of Medicine at Seoul National University, led by Prof. Kim Young-tae; and other researchers.
 |
| Seoul National University Prof. Kim Young-tae |
"Analysis of mutation times revealed that fusions and point mutations of canonical oncogenes were often acquired in the early decades of life. During a long latency, cancer-related genes were disrupted or amplified by complex rearrangements," Ju said.
Lung cancer is usually classified into small cell lung cancer, which occurs among heavy smokers, and non-small cell lung cancer. The research team analyzed 138 genomes of lung adenocarcinoma, a type of non-small cell lung cancer.
"By analyzing big data of cancer-related genomic rearrangements, we could verify the mutational process that promotes lung cancer in non-smokers," the professor added.
For their study, the researchers used the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information's (KISTI) super computer Nurion to analyze the data.
The KAIST said the research was conducted with support from the National Research Foundation of Korea, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Suh Kyungbae Science Foundation and the supporters association of the College of Medicine at Seoul National University.
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