Mutations drive malignant melanoma
Two mutations that collectively occur in 71 percent of malignant melanoma tumors have been discovered in what scientists call the “dark matter” of the cancer genome, where cancer-related mutations haven’t been previously found. Reporting their findings in the Jan. 24 issue of Science Express, Harvard Medical School (HMS) researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and researchers at the Broad Institute said the highly “recurrent” mutations — occurring in the tumors of many people — may be the most common mutations in melanoma cells found to date. The researchers said these cancer-associated mutations are the first to be discovered in the vast regions of DNA in cancer cells that do not contain genetic instructions for making proteins. The mutations are located in non-protein-coding DNA that regulates the activity of genes. This non-coding DNA, much of which was previously dismissed as “junk,” accounts for 99 percent of a cell’s genome. A large number of oncogenic...