se intrinsic pontine glioma). DIPG is a tumor that occurs on the brainstem, which cannot be cured by invasive surgery. Little information is known about DIPG. Most patients who are diagnosed with the tumor are children.Researchers found that in 78% of DIPG tumors, one of the two genes that carry the protein making instructions for packaging DNA inside cells had mutations. The packaging of the DNA by histones turns genes on or off, stabilized DNA, and repairs mutations in DNA. If any mutations occur during any of these functions, cancer can occur.
In the study, the researchers sequenced both normal and cancer genomes with seven patients that had DIPG. Researchers discovered that in the sixteen related genes, that are close variations to the histone H3 proteins, they had sequenced, they found that the tumors had the same mutation on the gene that carries protein instructions for DNA packaging. Researchers found that the mutations found on the genes H3F3A, HIST1H3B, and histone H3. However, the histone h3 genes are very significant in DIPG tumors, since these alternations have not been found in any other aggressive childhood brain tumors.
Since not much is known about DIPG, this is a significant breakthrough. We know more about DIPG than we did before. With this new information, we can possibly develop a way of curing this brain tumor that had no chance of being cured in children who suffer from the lethal tumor. More research is still needed in order to know how this alternation of the histone H3 gene affects patients with DIPG.
The original article can be found here.
You're right, this is a huge advancement considering that the tumor grows in such a delicate location that could not otherwise be safely treated. It’s very strange that this is mostly prevalent in children. How are they planning on treating this cancer now that they’ve made this discovery, gene therapy maybe?
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