For the first time, a new study found the live birth of a cancer in an animal from the first affected cell. The researchers were able to track its spread in zebra fish whose embryos are transparent. They genetically modified these fish so that they are carriers of a human cancer mutation and they also eliminated the tumor suppressor gene called p53.
The study, published in the journal Science, may pave the way for new treatments that target the tumor before it starts to grow. It could also help to better understand melanoma is a skin cancer.
The lead author of the study, Dr. Charles Kaufman, emphasizes that “the great mystery is the fact of why cells in the body already have mutations observed in cancer but do not behave as such.” The scientist added that they discovered that the cancer off after activation of a carcinogen, or the loss of a tumor suppressor, which can occur when a single cell is up to the stem cell state.
The researchers believe that several genes involved in this process, which could be targeted to prevent cancer start to grow.
Indeed, the cells are illuminated with a fluorescent green if Crestin gene was activated, so when the genetic program characteristic of stem cells is enabled. Note that this program stops working after the development of the embryo, but it can sometimes, for unknown reasons, trigger again in some cells.
Leonard Zon, another author of the study, says that “we have occasionally seen green fluorescent dots on some of these fish, and those which we then followed became in 100% of cases of cancerous tumors” .
Thus, the scientists concluded that the very first cancer cells are similar to those in stem cells make melanocytes that pigment the skin. They even found a cell on tens of millions who are in a mole become a melanoma.
