An individual’s own pre-existing genetics can promote cancer metastasis, reported a new study. For long, experts have suspected that genetic mutations arising within tumor cells could be causing such a devastating effect.

The researchers at The Rockefeller University suggested that the differences in a single gene that a person carried since birth can alter the progression of melanoma — a type of skin cancer. They suspect that these inherited variations could have the same kind of effect on several other types of cancers too.

“Patients often ask ‘Why am I so unlucky? Why did my cancer spread?’ As doctors, we never had an answer. This research provides an explanation. The discovery may transform how scientists think about cancer metastasis, and lead to a better understanding of patients’ risks in order to inform treatment decisions,” lead investigator Sohail Tavazoie, professor and senior attending physician at The Rockefeller University told Futurity.

Cancer Metastasis

Metastasis happens when cancer cells leave the original tissue to establish new tumors in other organs. It is a phenomenon that leads to the majority of cancer-related deaths. Experts believed that cancer cells which initially formed due to mutations within normal cells, further mutated and developed their traveling ability to attack other organs of the body.

But even after decades of research, there is still no evidence for such a genetic change that could be causing metastasis.

The Study:

Human beings carry at least one copy of three different versions of a gene called ApoE which was found in the genetic material of all of the body’s cells before cancer forms. The three versions of the gene include ApoE2, ApoE3, and ApoE4.

The researchers hypothesized that these variants could explain why cancer progressed differently in different individuals.

Key Findings

  • ApoE4 is the most effective version of the gene in terms of enhancing the immune response to tumor cells
  • Mice carrying ApoE4 exhibited a greater abundance of tumor-fighting T cells
  • ApoE2 was linked to an increased risk of metastasis
  • Individuals with ApoE4 survived the longest and ApOE2 lived the shortest
  • The metastasis-suppressing ability of ApoE3 fell between that of the other two versions of the gene

“These findings demonstrate that pre-existing hereditary genetics can impact progression and survival outcomes of a future malignancy and warrant prospective investigation of APOE genotype as a biomarker for melanoma outcome and therapeutic response,” concluded the researchers in their paper published in Nature.

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The gene that unlocks the mystery of cancer metastasis qimono, Pixabay
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