S’pore scientists make significant discoveries on growth of gastric cancer

SINGAPORE: Singapore scientists have made significant discoveries on the way gastric cancer grows, in a critical step towards finding a cure.

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) said the research team from its Genome Institute of Singapore was the first to analyse gastric cancers at the whole genome level.

The scientists used what is known as next—generation sequencing technology to provide a comprehensive view of the gastric cancer genome, as well as the way it mutates.

They found distinct processes that cause mutations in gastric cancer.

One of these had a targeted impact on genes and could have been triggered by bacterial infection.

The research team said cancers are constantly evolving and it is important to understand how they mutate to find new treatments.

— CNA/al