51 researchers from 23 centers in 6 countries have deciphered how the complete chronic lymphatic leukemia genome functions. Chronic lymphatic leukemia is the most common type of leukemia and this study paves the roads to developing new treatments for this type of cancer.
The researchers revealed the changes that occur in the genome map of cells of chronic lymphatic leukemia
The study, published today in the journal Nature Medicine and coordinated by the head of the IDIBAPS Biomedical Epigenomics Group and professor at the University of Barcelona, Inaki Martin-Subero, has provided a high-resolution map of the genome of chronic lymphatic leukemia and represents a new approach to molecular cancer research.
According to Martin-Subero, a comparison of the leukemia genome map with the genome map of healthy cells has revealed hundreds of regions that change the cells’ functionality in leukemia, which helps to better understand the disease and develop new therapies.
Until now, molecular studies of leukemia, as wells as of other cancer types, have focused on analyzing molecules from only one layer of information, which provided a partial view and did not allow for an accurate mapping of genome functions.
51 researchers from 6 countries have participated in mapping the functioning of the leukemia genome
“This is an unprecedented study in cancer genomics research, in which 51 researchers from 23 centers in 6 countries have participated, and highlights the importance of integrating different layers of molecular information to better understand the disease”, said Elias Campo, the co-author of the study.
Using state-of-the-art sequencing techniques and advanced computational biology tools, they have been able to map the detailed functioning of the leukemia genome.
“This comprehensive genome map not only allows us to better understand chronic lymphatic leukemia at the molecular level but also offers a great source of information for other researchers to find a better treatment for patients,” concluded Martin-Subero.
