St Jude has released some pretty amazing findings. Today is no different. The researchers there have implicated the BRCA2 (the gene, not the mutations) in the development of the brain. The study found that BRCA2 triggers the repair of damaged DNA from cellular replication in nerve cells. This effect was also found to suppress the development of Medulloblastomas. These tumors account for 1/5th of childhood brain tumors. When BRCA2 function is impaired (as is the case in breast and ovarian cancers) the mice studied developed medulloblastomas.
The Gene Sherpa Says: The jury's still out. It makes sense to me that this gene is involved in medulloblastoma. Especially because this gene is involved in Fanconi Anemia, which can present with brain abnormalities. However I caution the excitement...What prophylaxis is there for medulloblastoma? Brain-Ectomy(removal)?
3 comments:
Hi Steve, while we may disagree on many things, it's funny that we both had posts mentioning Fanconi Anemia this week. Glad to see we have some things in common, too.
Lisa,
I think if you look closely, we have much more in common than you think.
-Steve
Great blog!
Hi, I'm Bill Corrigan, board member of the Little Louie Foundation ~ Helping to fight pediatric brain cancer ~ specifically medulloblastoma.
See the story about our foundation's $10,000 donation to cancer researcher Dr. Linda Van Aelst!
Visit http://billcorriganwhatsnew.blogspot.com/ today!
Tell your colleagues about how we can help researchers!
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