Chance of surviving cancer is written in our GENES: Doctors develop database which predicts how long a person will live based on their DNA
- Doctors have created a database which can predict cancer survival rates
- It carries information on gene expression patterns of 39 types of cancer
- Found broad patterns correlating with good or bad survival rates
- Say information could help them find the best treatments for cancer
The chance of surviving cancer is written in our DNA, new research suggests.
Doctors have long sought a way to accurately predict cancer patients' survival rates by looking at biological details of the specific cancers they have.
But, despite concerted efforts, no such clinical crystal ball exists for the majority of cancers.
Now researchers have compiled a database that can predict survival rates for different types of the disease.
Doctors have created a database which can predict cancer survival rates. The database carries information on gene expression patterns of 39 types of cancer from 18,000 patients
The database integrates gene expression patterns of 39 types of cancer from nearly 18,000 patients with data about how long those patients lived.
Combining the data from so many people and cancers allowed the researchers to overcome issues that hampered smaller studies.
As a result, the researchers were able to clearly see broad patterns that were linked with poor or good survival rates.
They say the information could help them find the best treatments for cancer.
Information on patterns of gene expressions in tumours may make it possible to learn what has gone wrong in the cancer cells, and give ideas as to how best to block the cells' destructive growth.
Study senior author Dr Ash Alizadeh, an assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, said the team was able to show clear patterns in cancer survival rates across different types of the disease.
She added: 'The patterns were very striking, especially because few such examples are currently available for the use of genes or immune cells for cancer prognosis.'
The researchers in particular found that the expression of a gene called FOXM1, which is involved in cell growth, was associated with a poor prognosis across multiple cancers.
Meanwhile, the expression of the KLRB1 gene, which regulates the body's immune response to cancer, seemed to give a protective effect.
The new database, which will be available to physicians and researchers, is called PRECOG, an abbreviation for 'prediction of cancer outcomes from genomic profiles.'
Doctors found the expression of the KLRB1 gene, which regulates the body's immune response to cancer, seemed to give a protective effect against the disease
As well as identifying potentially useful patterns in gene expression in cancers, the researchers also used Cibersort - a recently published technique developed by the same researchers - to determine the composition of white blood cells that flock to a tumour.
Cibersort assesses the relative levels of specific immune cells from a range of cancer and normal cells.
It then identifies the types of cells from looking at genes expressed in the bulk tumour.
The researchers likened this process to analyzing a smoothie to identify its component fruits and berrie
Study lead author Dr Aaron Newman, also of Stanford University School of Medicine, said: 'We were able to infer which immune cells are present or absent in individual solid tumours, to estimate their prevalence and to correlate that information with patient survival.
'We found you can even broadly distinguish cancer types just based on what kind of immune cells have infiltrated the tumour.'
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