Scientists find genetic 'key' for cancer, heart disease
Last Updated: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 | 10:11 AM CT
The Canadian Press
A new study led by Winnipeg researchers suggests that flipping a genetic switch could stop cancer cells from multiplying and heart cells from dying.
The study led by Dr. Lorrie Kirshenbaum of St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre is being published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
It reports the discovery of a master switch that regulates the "death gene" that tells cells when to live and die.
Kirshenbaum says scientists already knew the gene turns on in heart cells during a heart attack when oxygen levels drop.
He says the cells can't regenerate, and patients suffer from decreased heart function and eventually heart failure.
The same gene is turned off in cancer cells, which allows them to grow and multiply uncontrollably and spread throughout the body.
"It's quite exciting," Kirshenbaum told CBC News. "We've basically figured out how to switch on a particular gene that would ordinarily be activated when someone has a heart attack. What we think is cool is that in cancer this gene appears to be broken or nonfunctional.
"The idea is that if we understood how to switch on or switch off this gene we could potentially find new ways to treat individuals with cancer and heart disease."
Kirschenbaum said the discovery could lead to halting the progression of cancerous cells, and trigger cells to repair a damaged heart.
"When person is having a heart attack the cells of the heart become damaged," he said. "Heart muscle has limited ability to repair itself. We found this gene gets switched on [during a heart attack] and tells the cells to die — and our plan was to find a way to turn it off. With cancer it's just the opposite. And we found a way to switch it on."
"So the really remarkable component is the overlap between cancer and heart disease."
Kirshenbaum and his team tested heart and pancreatic cancer cells in the lab, not on humans or animals.
The discovery could help researchers develop drugs that will preserve heart function in heart attack patients and stop cancerous tumours from developing or spreading.
Share Tools
Latest Manitoba News Headlines
- 2 NDP MPs back final Commons vote to kill gun registry
- Two NDP MPs broke party ranks to vote with the government in the final House of Commons vote on scrapping the long-gun registry. more »
- Off-road vehicle ban in Winnipeg gets support
- It looks like snowmobilers and ATVers Winnipeg will have to find new places to ride later this year. more »
- SCENE | Film featuring HBC archival video premieres
- Nitrate Treasures, a new movie that offers a new look at restored archival Hudson's Bay Company footage, premiers Wednesday night at the Cinematheque. more »
- No charges for Mountie in God's Lake shooting
- No criminal charges will be laid against an RCMP officer who shot and killed a man on a northern Manitoba First Nation last year. more »
Top News Headlines
- Drummond report on Ontario calls for cutbacks
- The Ontario government must curtail its spending with the kind of cuts not seen since the Mike Harris years, according to a report by former TD Bank chief economist Don Drummond. more »
- Children of immigrants challenged at school, home
- By 2016, foreign-born youth and Canadian-born youth from immigrant families will make up a quarter of the country's population, according to predictions by the Canadian Council on Social Development. As their numbers grow, more attention is being paid to their successes and failures. more »
- B.C. house party trial hears from tearful teens
- Two teenagers cried as they testified at the trial of a B.C. woman who was charged after a teen died while her son was hosting a party at her house in 2008. more »
- Whitney Houston funeral to be livestreamed
- Whitney Houston's funeral will be livestreamed, to satisfy the desire of fans to grieve alongside family members at the Saturday memorial. more »
- Northwestern Ontario man stabbed to death in Winnipeg
- Brandon newcomers struggle with separation from families
- Electric cars can handle Canadian winter
- Views on citizenship vary across Canada, poll suggests
- Manitoba families march for missing, slain women
- Public golf course supporters mad after debate stopped
- Winnipeg's Mariaggi listed among world's romantic hotels
- Immigrants the proudest Canadians, poll suggests
- Private charges in Winnipeg care home death suspended

