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THE DISCOVERY of a mutant gene in lung tumours could offer new possibilities
for treating lung cancer, say British researchers.

Å®ÉúСÊÓƵs have long suspected that some people have a genetic susceptibility
to lung cancer. Now, a team from the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and the
John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford have found high levels of a mutant form
of the so-called p53 gene in cells from lung cancers. The p53 gene is normally
a tumour suppressor. The mutant appears to be absent from normal cells or
other types of tumour cells.

The team believes the findings make possible ‘new therapeutic approaches’
to lung cancer (The Lancet, current issue).