Scientists discover how X-rays cause cancer
Posted on: 16/Sep/2016 4:47:39 PM
A study published in the journal Nature Communications has shown that scientists have, for the first time, found how X-rays and radioactive particles cause cancer in humans by damaging DNA, a finding that may lead to more effective treatments for tumours caused by radiation. The discovery was made by researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in the UK.
Say the researchers, To find out how radiation could cause cancer, we studied the genomes of cancers caused by radiation in comparison to tumours that arose spontaneously. By comparing the DNA sequences we found two mutational signatures for radiation damage that were independent of cancer type. We then checked the findings with prostate cancers that had or had not been exposed to radiation, and found the same two signatures again. These mutational signatures help us explain how high-energy radiation damages DNA. Ionising radiation probably causes all types of mutational damage, but here we can see two specific types of damage and get a sense of what is happening to the DNA.
Showers of radiation chop up the genome causing lots of damage simultaneously. This seems to overwhelm the DNA repair mechanism in the cell, leading to the DNA damage we see. This is the first time that scientists have been able to define the damage caused to DNA by ionising radiation. These mutational signatures could be a diagnosis tool for both individual cases, and for groups of cancers, and could help us find out which cancers are caused by radiation.
