Epigenetics is the study of how genes change in order to control cancer development.
It could change the way cancer is detected and treated according to research from The Institute of Cancer Research.
It could lead to new forms of tests for the disease.
Research is still at an early stage, so this is far off.
Structural changes to the DNA code are what most people think of when they think of genetics.
There is a lot of focus on how these genes drive the growth of cancer.
Scientists have discovered a new phenomenon called epigenetics.
Epigenetics is the study of how an individual's behavior affects their genes.
Your epigenetics change as you get older.
Epigenetics can control access to genes and is seen as an important factor in the development of cancer.
Prof Graham is the director of the Centre for Evolution and Cancer at The Institute of Cancer Research in London.
He said that there can beangles in lines of DNA as they fold up in each cell and this can change which genes are read.
He said that the position of the tangles can be important in determining how cancer behaves.
Prof Graham said that it isn't going to change clinical care tomorrow but could be an avenue for developing new therapies.
Part of the picture about a person's cancer can only be offered by genetic testing for cancer genes.
Prof Graham said that testing for both genetic and epigenetic changes could help predict which treatments will work best for a particular person's cancer.
The first analysed more than 1,300 samples from 30 bowel cancer and found that epigenetic changes in the cells helped them grow more than other cells.
There were lots of samples taken from different parts of the same tumours. Cancer cells are often governed by factors other than genes.
The researchers say they can't prove that epigenetic changes lead to changes in the way cancer behaves.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
