Skin cancer: Genetic mutations 'warn of risk'

This article talks about the discovery of a newly identified gene mutation that causes some cases of melanoma. Melanoma is a cancer of the skin that usually is cause by over exposure to sunlight (including tanning beds). A team led by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Insitute in Hinxton, UK found that people in mutations that switch off a gene known as POT1 are at extreme high risk of developing melanoma. The mutations "switch off" POT1, which would usually protect against damage to chromosomes. The co-author, David Adams says that the mutations cause damage to the ends of the chromosomes which has been linked to cancer formation. This discovery should lead to a better ability to find out who is at high risk and who should be screened for skin cancer. This can lead to earlier detection of the cancer which should lead to a higher success rate for treating the disease. The article also states that gene may not be limited to just melanoma, but to other cancers as well.
I think that this article shows some more promising progress towards the detection and understanding of cancer. However, I think that any excitement about this news alone needs to be suppressed for now despite the overall progress in the fight against cancer. It seems like a small step in cancer detection and is likely only a stepping stone until a prevention or a "cure" is found down the road.