Singapore researchers identify new, deadly cancer

SINGAPORE – A man went to several hospitals and was treated for conditions ranging from diarrhoea to inflammation of the intestines over several months.

But it was only when a tumour perforated his gut that the cancer diagnosis was made.

Scientists in Singapore have now uncovered a new type of rare cancer that he suffered from. Because of this discovery, doctors can now diagnose and potentially treat this deadly cancer of the immune cells better.

Said Associate Professor Lim Soon Thye, deputy head and senior consultant at the department of medical oncology at the National Cancer Centre Singapore: “With proper identification of the disease, doctors can get an accurate diagnosis fast, decide on a uniform treatment and identify new drugs.”

The discovery happened out of the blue.

Said pathologist Tan Soo Yong: “It was serendipity.”

He was examining tumour samples when he was surprised to see that an excessive amount of the protein MATK – often found in cancer cells – had appeared in 100 per cent of the cells taken from tumours of the small intestine.

“This is very rare, and I realised that I was looking at a specific type of tumour,” said Associate Professor Tan, director of the SingHealth Tissue Repository and a senior consultant at Singapore General Hospital’s pathology department.

To study the cancer further, he and his team looked at 60 patients from the region believed to have such tumours.

“At the time, the literature on this cancer was absolutely confusing, and for every piece of research that said one thing, there was one which said another,” he said.

But what is known is that this is a deadly disease that often kills patients in months. It is found mainly in Asia, striking around five people here each year.

“Many pathologists have not heard of the cancer, and in the past it has been called many, many different names, based on the symptoms, and treated in many different ways,” he said.

“Once we begin to recognise the disease, we may find it is not as rare as previously thought.”

Also, the way this particular cancer strikes, in the nucleus of the cell, points to the underlying arsenal of some cancers and how to combat them, he added.

Generally, the MATK protein is produced in the cytoplasm on the outskirts of the cell, whereas in this case, it was found in the cell nucleus.

“That the molecule is not found where it’s supposed to be also gives us insight into the way the cancer develops, and the mechanisms of the tumour genes,” said Prof Tan.

Professor Teh Bin Tean of the cancer centre and Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School said: “Eventually, it doesn’t matter where the cancer is, because as long as we know the molecular signature, we know which drug to target it.

“It’s important to do such work here because the cancers we’re looking at are more prevalent in Asians and if we don’t drive it, who else will?”

The group’s work has been published in the prestigious research journal Leukemia.

It has impressed experts at the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH), who said that this is the first time doctors and scientists have a better understanding of the cancer.

The discovery could pave the way for potential therapeutic targets, said Dr Wyndham Wilson, head of the Lymphoma Therapeutics Section at NIH, who was in Singapore recently to attend a conference and discuss collaborations.

“In view of the dismal prognosis of this condition, the impact of this discovery cannot be understated and continued research in this condition should be further supported,” he said.

Source: The Straits Times

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