 | | | | Related Healthscout Videos | |
|
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >> Combined, these mutations may account for about 57 percent of all cases of thyroid cancer. In addition, these variations may signal altered levels of a key hormone produced by the thyroid.
"This finding will lead to a wonderful diagnostic instrument that will allow us to develop a test to find people who are at an extraordinarily high risk of developing this disease," Stefansson said. "That is important, because if you diagnose thyroid cancers early, you have a very good chance of curing it," he said.
Stefansson said that people who have a family history would be the best candidates for this test.
Text Continues Below
Risk factors for thyroid cancer include smoking, as well as age and family history. Risk factors can influence the development of cancer, but most do not directly cause cancer. Some people with several risk factors never develop cancer, while others with no known risk factors do, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
deCODE is a bio-pharmaceutical company developing drugs and DNA-based tests to improve treatment, diagnosis and prevention of common diseases.
Thyroid cancer expert Dr. Scott Rivkees, director of the Yale Pediatric Thyroid Center at Yale University, thinks this finding is an important contribution to the understanding of the disease, and a genetic test may be play a significant role in early detection of the condition.
"The report is a very important study and is the type of investigation that is needed for the field," Rivkees said. "Increasing evidence shows that there is a genetic component to thyroid malignancies."
This group has made a tremendous discovery in finding gene areas and genes that markedly increase the risk of thyroid cancer, Rivkees said. "Thyroid cancer is readily treated and has a wonderful long-term prognosis if detected early. The ability to identify individuals at increased risk for thyroid cancer through a genetic test may someday allow us to identify individuals who needed heightened screening for this form of cancer," he said.
Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >>
|
.gif)
