Possible Cure for Skin Cancer?????

Charles C.

Citation-

Futreal, Andy. June 10. 2002. “ British Scientist Identify Skin Cancer Gene”. The New York Times. June11.2002. http://ww.nytimes.com/

Davies,Helen. June 27.2002. “Mutations of the BRAF gene in human cancer”. The Journal Nature. www.nature.com/nature


“Researchers discover a mutation of BRAF gene in skin cancer patients”

Scientist located in the UK and united States have come to a conclusion of identifying a specific protein that can be mutated in people diagnosed with cancer. Even though the gene called b-raf is found in normal cell types or cancerous cell types, Researchers discovered the gene b-raf being present in the most malignant melanomas. They discovered that BRAF can actually be labeled as an oncogene in cancer patients. In the primary article it lists other types of cancers that also have the same mutation, such as colorectal cancer and borderline ovarian cancer.
Before the research was constructed, scientist and researchers could not identify the specific point mutation that was occurring in patients with malignant melanoma. Throughout the experiment researchers created a study first by observing and designing a graph with examples of DNA sequences from patients diagnosed with cancer. Located in the primary source figure 1 divides the caner patients by labeling one with the tumor cells and the other is from normal cells in the body. As a result the tumor cell patients proved that the gene BRAF was occurring as a point mutation in these particular cancer DNA sequences. Researchers came to the conclusion that there might be a study to create an inhibitor drug that inhibits the kinases activity of the protein BRAF. Since today researchers have found out how to create an inhibitor that inhibits the kinases for a similar structure to BRAF called the ABL proteins. ABL is found in individuals diagnosed with leukemia. With this discovery, we might have a good chance of doing the same with the protein BRAF.
In human cancers the point mutations in BRAF activates the kinases which makes the proteins phosphorylate. Researchers took the amino acid V599E which changed the BRAF protein into a BRAF mutation in the DNA. They discovered that when the amino acid is mutated to BRAF it not only converts it to a BRAF mutation but it reacts more actively to kinases.
To compare the articles they both mention that the specific gene mutation in malignant melanoma is BRAF. They also both state that with this discovery there may be a chance to develop an inhibitor to stop the activity of BRAF. In the primary source it states that BRAF mutation occurs in precisely 66% of patients with malignant melanoma. In contrast the secondary source states that the gene is found in around 70% of malignant melanoma patients. Even though the primary source is more enhanced with information about the particular gene and is more precise with their calculations, the secondary source was easier to read for the greater public to understand. Given that the primary source explains in detail what exactly occurs in the gene b-raf and displays graphs explaining the effects of the different amino acids being mutated to BRAF. I would most likely trust the information given in the primary source. The secondary source mainly distributes the name of the gene and statements from the director and the author of the article making it a more opinionated article about the discovery.
Questions:
1. Will this identification in the skin cancer gene help lead to identifying other point mutations in other caner genes?
2. If they do create a therapeutic drug for malignant melanoma, will people who at first find out that they are diagnosed with the specific cancer have the same effect on the drug as if a person who has known they have been diagnosed with the skin cancer for a certain amount of time?