Tuesday December 8, 13:40

A chromosomal abnormality can cause certain types of cancer

The results will put an end to the debate as to whether aneuploidy causes cancer or is caused by it

A chromosomal abnormality known as aneuploidy may cause some cases of cancer, says a study published Monday in the U.S., confirming a hypothesis raised by researchers.

Aneuploidy is an abnormal number of chromosomes, and is a type of chromosome abnormality. Aneuploidy prevents the body's cells from having the normal number of chromosomes, or, in humans, the number of chromosomes contained in cancer cells is in the vast majority of cases, abnormal.

Therefore, researchers "have long believed that the development of tumors should be attributed to genetic mutations responsible for a poor separation of chromosomes when cells divide," explained the researchers from the Mayo Clinic in a statement.

"Based on new models and tested on mice for cases of cancer in humans, we have succeeded in demonstrating that aneuploidy causes cancer and were able to clarify how it does," said Jan van Deursen, one of the main authors of the study.

In tests on mice, researchers have discovered that a cell was less able to remove a tumor if the separation of each chromosome of the cell (or mitosis) was incomplete or leading to the absence of a chromosome.

"The cell loses the ability to remove tumors, which is part of the immune system," said a Mayo Clinic spokesman. "It's like losing any antivirus software on your computer," he said.

Among the types of cancer linked to aneuploidy, the study cites colon cancer and cancer tissues of the lymphatic system.

The results of this study, which will put an end to the debate as to whether aneuploidy causes cancer or is caused by it, are published in the journal "Cancer Cell".

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