Subject:  Cancer in Non-Mutated Genes (Lundquist)..
Date:     Thu, 23 Mar 2000 214522 -0600 (CST)
From:     "Roy L. Beavers" 
To:       emfguru 
--------------------------------------------------

.........Forwarded by EMF-L.......


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---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 09:32:23 -0800 (PST)
From: Marjorie Lundquist 
To: Roy Beavers 
Cc: marjlundquist@about.com
Subject: Wired News : Cancer in Non-Mutated Genes


A note from Marjorie Lundquist:

   Roy, this is another report that may have some relevance to microwave
bioeffects, though I've never seen any report that microwaves cause or
speed up DNA methylation. -- Marjorie

============================================================

 From Wired News, available online at:
http://www.wired.com/news/print/0,1294,35095,00.html

Cancer in Non-Mutated Genes  
by Kristen Philipkoski  

3:00 a.m. Mar. 22, 2000 PST 
New research has found that cancer tumors are not only caused by gene
mutations. 

Researchers said the study results, published recently in the journal
Nature Genetics, showed that a functional defect called DNA
methylation, which turns off genes that are supposed to stop cell
growth, causes far more tumors than previously thought. 

Also: 
Simple Tumor Screening Nears 
Group Wants Cancer Screening 
Check yourself into Med-Tech
Read more Technology news

DNA methylation is important in the early development of most mammals.
Although previously thought to rarely cause tumor growth, researchers
found the process could turn off up to 5,000 genes in certain types of
tumors. 

"The result is quite interesting because it indicates that probably up
to 10 percent of genes in cancer tumors can be affected by DNA
methylation," said Christoph Plass, assistant professor of molecular
virology, immunology, and molecular genetics at the Ohio State
University Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

Plass conducted the research with Joe Costello, at that time a fellow
at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University of
California at San Diego. 

The researchers looked at 98 tumor samples from seven types of cancer,
including breast, colon, head and neck, and leukemia. In some types,
certain genes were methylated in specific locations, which scientists
hope can eventually lead to newer ways to diagnose and treat cancer. 

The role of DNA methylation in tumor growth was first highlighted by
Stephen Baylin at Johns Hopkins in 1998. 

Up until now, however, only 15 genes had been examined. 

But thanks to a technology called Restriction Landmark Genomic
Scanning, developed in 1991 in Japan, researchers were able to look at
the process on much larger scale. 

"The technique allowed us to look at 1,184 genes in a single
experiment. In total we looked at over 100,000 independent methylation
events, which gave us the power to make more general statements about
this process in the cancer cells," said Costello, now assistant
professor at the Brain Tumor Research Center at the University of
California at San Francisco. 

"The technique we used is one of the few that allows you to scan a
gene for DNA methylation," Plass said. 

He said the results could also help researchers learn more about
chemotherapy resistance.  

Related Wired Links:  

Simple Tumor Screening Nears  
Tuesday 

Group Wants Cancer Screening  
Mar. 16, 2000 

Getting Better at Finding Cancer  
Feb. 16, 2000 

Radiotherapy Targets Tumors  
Feb. 8, 2000 

New Tool for Tumor Detectives  
Dec. 29, 1999 

Precision Treatment for Cancer  
Dec. 20, 1999 

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Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.emfguru.com