A new mutant gene that may have a role in the development of many common cancers, including lung and breast cancer, was revealed by scientists last week.
The researchers, from the Institute of Cancer Research in Surrey and the Royal Free Hospital and University College Medical School in London, found the mutated oncogene, which they called Bcl10, in a patient presenting with a B cell lymphoma of the stomach (Cell 1999;96:25-34).
They have subsequently found identical mutated oncogenes in a sample of other cancers, including breast, lung, and colonic adenocarcinoma.
Dr Martin Dyer, head of the team from the Institute of Cancer Research, said: “This is only the second gene to be discovered which is implicated in such a large number of cancers. The first was p53, which is abnormal in about 50% of all cancers. Our preliminary results indicate that Bcl10 is contributing to the development of at least as many.”
The team has begun work on the action of the gene. It has found that the gene is essential in the pathway of apoptosis (programmed cell death) and is unusually prone to mutation. Cells containing the mutated Bcl10 gene lose the ability to undergo apop-tosis and display additional transforming ability.
“At first we thought that the Bcl10 gene behaved in the same way as mutated Bcl2, a mutated gene that prevents cells from dying. However, further analysis of the patient’s tumour showed that the defective gene not only prevented apoptosis, but also speeded up the growth of cancerous cells in the tumour, behaving in a way similar to mutated p53,” said Dr Dyer.
Scientists now want to document the exact frequency of the mutations in the most common cancers and to characterise the functions of the proteins produced by the gene.