The breakthrough emerged from a US-UK study that found many hard-to-treat cancers contained loops of malignant genetic material that were crucial for the tumours to survive and withstand treatment.
Tests on a total of 39 different tumour types from nearly 15,000 UK patients revealed more than one in six cancers had extrachromosomal DNA, or ecDNA - the loops of genetic code that can make tumours harder to treat.
The analysis cast light on how ecDNA drives cancer growth and resistance and led researchers to identify a new drug, already in early stage clinical trials, that has the potential to selectively destroy affected cells and prevent tumours from evolving rapid resistance.
This story is from the November 07, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the November 07, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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