A new study has uncovered genetic mutations that drive testicular cancer and make it resistant to chemotherapy, offering the promise of new treatments, researchers say.
Testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer in young men. Although it is often highly treatable, the disease still kills hundreds of American men each year.
Researchers using a new state-of-the-art sequencing technology have discovered several new genetic mutations that are involved in testicular germ cell cancer, which is the most common subtype of testicular cancer.
Scientists at London’s Institute of Cancer Research used a genetic technique called whole-exome sequencing to examine tumor samples from 42 patients.
They uncovered new chromosome duplications and other abnormalities that appear to contribute to the development of testicular cancer.
Their study also found defective copies of a DNA repair gene called XRCC2 in a patient who had become resistant to platinum-based chemotherapy, which is the standard treatment for the disease. They were able to verify the link between XRCC2 and platinum resistance by sequencing an additional sample from another platinum-resistant tumor.
Although testicular cancer generally responds well to treatment, resistance to platinum-based chemotherapy is associated with a poor long-term survival rate. This new discovery could help find ways to treat those tumors, the researchers said.
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