U.S. scientists who completed the world's first "whole-exome sequencing" of melanoma say their accomplishment will improve the ability to diagnose and treat the deadliest form of skin cancer. Whole-exome sequencing is an approach that decodes the 1 to 2 percent of the genome that contains protein-coding genes. The team, led by researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), conducted a thorough analysis of the melanoma genome and its functional components, especially gene mutations. They focused on advanced melanoma (the metastatic stage) when cancer cells have the highest number of gene mutations. The researchers found that mutations in a gene called TRRAP occurred in the exact position in six separate patients with melanoma. In about 4 percent of melanoma cases, TRRAP has a recurrent mutation in one position along the string of DNA code. "These data suggest that TRRAP is a driver and probably an oncogene," Samuels said in the news release. An oncogene is a cancer-causing gene.
With increasing public interest in physical image tanning beds have been an ever popular form of beauty altering technology that's turn to in young people. With growing studies on the effects of UV Rays on the skin it is shown that melanoma may be more prevalent. If scientists can pin point the areas of the body that are most susceptible to the effects of melanoma maybe individuals that can be most strongly effected can greater protect these sensitive areas.
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