Grant ID | RP121018 |
Awarded On | March 29, 2012 |
Title | Rapid and sensitive diagnostic testing for somatic mutations in cancer |
Program | Academic Research |
Award Mechanism | Bridging the Gap: Early Translational Research Awards |
Institution/Organization | Baylor College of Medicine |
Principal Investigator/Program Director | David Wheeler |
Cancer Sites | All Sites |
Contracted Amount | $996,815 |
Lay Summary |
Cancer is a disease of the genome. That means, no matter what organ the cancer appears in, cancers share the common feature of mutations in the DNA that have been acquired at random during the lifetime of the individual and the during the development of cancer. Although every individual’s cancer has a set of mutations unique to the individual, the cancers of a given organ tend to have specific genes mutated in common, thereby forming a “gene mutation profile” characteristic of a given cancer. Some of the recurrently mutated genes for common cancers, such as breast, colon and lung cancers, have become the targets for highly specific drug therapies, for example, Gleevec for treatment of leukem... |