29 November, 2013

Kolkata scientists discover new breast cancer gene mutation

Scientist in Kolkata claim to have discovered a gene mutation that triggers tumour growth which in turn can lead to breast cancer. Exon 20, a component of BRCA 1 (Breast Cancer Associated Gene) mutates to disrupt the structural stability of proteins and helps cancerous cells proliferate. A paper on Exon 20 mutation will be published in Cellular and Molecular Biology Letters, next month.

The research team, which comprised scientists from the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB) and the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Cancer Research Institute (NSCBCRI), chanced upon the novel mutation while studying the genetic factors behind breast cancer. Exon 20, they found, hindered the stability of BRCA’s protein structure.  

Abhijit Chakraborty, senior research fellow at the NSCBCRI and a member of the research team told TOI: ‘The protein helps cell cycle check point or controls the proliferation of cells. It also helps to repair DNA damage and prevents cancerous growth. Exon 20 mutation disrupts these two vital functions, allowing a proliferation of abnormal cells. This leads to tumoural growth and eventually breast cancer.’ ‘It could also be inherited from the mother to the daughter or the grand-daughter. The lone case that we have come across so far has a strong familial history of cancer,’ said Ashis Mukhopadhyay.  

The patient, a 34-year-old woman who developed breast cancer five years ago, had the Exon 20 mutation. While her mother was also a breast cancer patient, her uncle, too, was a cancer patient. ‘This suggests that while the BRCA gene is active in the family, an Exon 20 mutation is not ruled out in her mother’s case either. It needs to be seen if the mutation is hereditary. There is also a possibility that it is specific to this region, since it has not been identified anywhere else in the world. We also need to further investigate the impact of the mutation,’ said Chakraborty.

Source: http://health.india.com

29.11.2013

Diabetic women should monitor glucose levels before pregnancy

Women suffering from diabetes and wishing to start a family should monitor their blood glucose levels and take a daily high dose of folic acid before pregnancy to avoid risk to their baby’s health, a new study said Wednesday.

The risk of stillbirth – when the foetus dies in the uterus or death during the first year of birth – was over four times greater in women with diabetes than in those without the disease.

The team from Newcastle studied the outcome of over 400,000 pregnancies delivered in north of England between 1996 and 2008.  

‘We found that 2.7 percent of births in women with diabetes resulted in stillbirth, six times than the rate for women without diabetes, while 0.7 percent died during the first year of life, nearly double the rate in women without diabetes,’ said Ruth Bell, one of the researchers.

The research also said that nearly 40 percent of deaths might have been avoided if all of the women were able to achieve good control of their blood glucose before pregnancy.

‘Stillbirths and infant deaths are thankfully not common, but they could be even less common if all women with diabetes can be helped to achieve the best possible control of their blood glucose levels before becoming pregnant,’ added Bell.  

Source: http://health.india.com

29.11.2013

 

 

 

 

 

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future

John F. Kennedy