SBI and ACR publish new recommendations on breast cancer screening
October 06, 2015
The researchers extended their studies to look at two bowel cancer cell lines. Two of the genetic rogue elements were found in invasive bowel cancer cell lines, but not in the pre-invasive cells, suggesting that these sequences could play a role in cancer progression.
Dr Tufarelli said: "If this 'junk DNA' does turn out to play a role in cancer then we could be at the tip of the iceberg in understanding a completely new mechanism behind the disease. If we do find out that they are playing a role then they could be useful targets for new treatments."
Dr Lesley Walker, Cancer Research UK's director of cancer information, said: "These really interesting findings are the most comprehensive study of these transcripts that have ever been carried out. We are learning more about the genes involved in cancer but these so-called 'junk' regions receive relatively little attention. We are beginning to see that they could play a really important role."
Source: University of Nottingham