Saturday night 11:30pm. What better way to spend time than writing random facts about cancer.

Q. What is the relationship between telomeres and cancer?
A. Increased telomerase activity can increase longevity of cells, but it is also implicated in cancer formation. Almost 90% of cancer cells have been found to have enhanced activity, and a cancer cell usually divides about 80 times before a tumour mass becomes large enough to be detected In contrast, normal human cells usually divide 30 to 50 times before telomeres become too short and doubling stops.

Q. Who was the first individual to find the gene for breast cancer?
A. Mary Claire King (1946-) determined that in 5 to 10% of those women with breast cancer, the cancer is the result of a mutation of a gene on chromosome 17, the BRCA1 (Breast Cancer 1). The BRCA1 gene is a tumour suppressor gene and is also linked to ovarian cancer. Subsequently, other researchers were able to clone the gene and pinpoint its exact location on chromosome 17.

Q. What is an example of a drug developed through pharmacogenomics that is associated with cancer?
A. Gleevec (approved by the FDA in 2001) is a drug developed for a rare type of genetically caused chronic myeloid leukemia. In this type of leukemia, pieces of two different chromosomes break off and reattach on the opposite chromosome, causing a chromosome translocation. This abnormality causes a gene for a blood cell enzyme to continually manufacture the enzyme, resulting in high levels of white blood cells in the bone marrow and blood. Gleevec was specifically engineered to inhibit the enzyme created by the translocation mutation and to thus block the rapid growth of white blood cells.