An international team of scientists led by the Harvard Medical School in Boston (USA) and in which the Valle de Hebrón hospital (Spain) has participated, has presented a study that concludes that metastases in the brain have a Very specific genetic profile , different from that of the primary tumors from which they arise, which will change the way in which these tumors can be attacked.
For the research, the experts involved 86 patients with brain metastases in twelve different types of tumor (with a large number of patients with breast cancer or lung cancer). Its genome was analyzed and the genome of the metastases was compared with that of the primary tumor and with that of healthy cells . The results revealed that brain metastases had some common genetic alterations with the primary tumor but other additional genetic alterations were found that were not present in the original tumor.
Specifically, three different types of genetic alterations have been identified in brain metastases for which there are already approved drugs . According to the scientists, in order to find the key to which drug would be the most suitable for each patient, the genetic profile of the metastasis in each case would have to be analyzed, which is currently done using a fairly invasive technique.
“ The benefits for patients will not be immediate . We will need a less invasive technique to convey the results of this research to patients. We will have to learn which is the best treatment for each case ”, explains Josep Tabernero, co-author of the study.
In any case, the experts hope to find this new method in a short space of time and achieve progress in an area of oncology that has not been developed until now.
The study has been published in the journal Cancer Discovery .
