Local scientists have uncovered a genetic link to mesothelioma, an aggressive cancer usually found in the lungs that kills 3,000 people in the U.S. each year.

Dr. Joseph Testa of Philly’s Fox Chase Cancer Center teamed up with a researcher at the University of Hawaii to lead a study on the mutation of a gene called BAP1. they found that carriers of the mutated gene are particularly susceptible to mesothelioma, as well as a rare melanoma of the eye.

Mesothelioma is usually associated with exposure to asbestos. the cancer’s symptoms are vague during its earliest stages, so cases often go undiagnosed until stage 3 or 4—far too late in the game to operate. Patients usually die within six to nine months of diagnosis.

The findings could help doctors screen for individuals who are at particularly high risk for mesothelioma. “a genetic test could help doctors catch the disease earlier on, when it might still be treatable,” says Testa. Understanding the BAP1 gene could also lead to more targeted therapies for treatment.

Researchers zeroed in on BAP1 by studying two families with particularly high mesothelioma rates; every family member who had developed mesothelioma or melanoma of the eye turned out to be carriers of the BAP1 mutation. they also did gene-sequencing studies of 26 individuals diagnosed with mesothelioma but with no family history of the disease, and found that 25 percent of tumors from those subjects carried mutations of the BAP1 gene.

Beyond mesothelioma, the study found evidence that the gene mutation may be linked to breast, ovarian, pancreatic and renal cancer—meaning that people with the mutation may be at a higher risk for those diseases, too.

The research was decades in the making, says Testa, who has worked with Philadelphia’s Local 14 union of insulators and asbestos workers for years. His team analyzed tissue samples from some Local 14 members as part of the study, as well as samples from partners at New York University.

“For me, this is really the first of what we hope are going to be a number of genes that might predict whether someone will be susceptible to certain cancers,” says Testa. “I’m hopeful that this research will open doors for more research and better treatments.”

IT took visits to three different doctors for Soula Panagiotou to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

The Malvern East woman said in 2005 she started feeling bloated, tired and had heartburn, and knew something wasn’t quite right.

But two doctors dismissed the symptoms as inconsequential.

Only during Ms Panagiotou’s third medical appointment was a large tumour on her ovaries detected.

“I was absolutely horrified,” she said.

Her mother, then 59, had been diagnosed with the aggressive cancer in 1991 but miraculously went into remission after just two chemotherapy treatments.

Ms Panagiotou, 44, had surgery to remove the tumour and, coincidentally, also had two chemotherapy treatments before the cancer was downgraded.

“People are always surprised that two people from the same family could survive such a highly aggressive disease,” she said. “Because of that I decided to write down some of the things I did after I was diagnosed.”

The result is the self-published book, The Detox answer, which gives guidance on how to rid the body of toxins following a serious illness or addiction.

Ms Panagiotou also stays in regular contact with the National Ovarian Cancer Network, based in Malvern East.

She said the symptoms of ovarian cancer could be vague and it was important for women to be aware of their bodies and what was normal for them.

February is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month.

Inquiries: 1300 660 334, or read more at thedetoxanswer.com

London – Men with long index fingers have a lower risk of prostate cancer, British scientists said on Wednesday, a finding that could be used to help select those who need regular screening for the disease.

Researchers at Britain’s Warwick University and the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) found that men whose index finger is longer than their ring finger were one-third less likely to develop the disease than men with the opposite pattern of finger lengths.

“Relative finger length could be used as a simple test for prostate cancer risk, particularly in men aged under 60,” said Ros Eeles from the ICR, who helped lead the study.

She said the finding, which the scientists believe may be related to levels of the male hormone testosterone, could be used in combination with other factors such as family history or genetic testing to select at-risk men for screening.

Screening for prostate cancer is controversial because the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests used cannot differentiate between men with aggressive cancer and those who would never have symptoms or need treatment.

A study in the United States last year found routine prostate cancer screening there had resulted in more than one million men being diagnosed with tumours who might otherwise have suffered no ill effects from them.

In the latest study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, Eeles’s team explained that the relative length of index and ring fingers is set before birth and is believed to relate to the levels of sex hormones to which a baby is exposed in the womb.

The researchers said they believed that being exposed to less testosterone before birth helped protect against prostate cancer later in life. the phenomenon was believed to occur because genes known as HOXA and HOXD controlled finger length and the development of sex organs, they said.

Previous studies have linked finger length to aggression, fertility, sporting ability and confidence and reaction times.

“Our study indicates it is the hormone levels that babies are exposed to in the womb that can have an effect decades later,” said Ken Muir of Warwick University, who co-led the research.

Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men after lung cancer and kills around 254 000 men a year worldwide.

The scientists questioned more than 1 500 prostate cancer patients at three British hospitals between 1994 and 2009 and compared them with 3 000 healthy men. the men were shown pictures of different finger length patterns and asked to identify the one most similar to their own.

The most common pattern, which was seen in more than half the men in the study, was a shorter index than ring finger, the researchers reported.

Men whose index and ring fingers were the same length – about 19 percent of those studied – had a similar prostate cancer risk, but men whose index fingers were longer than their ring finger were 33 percent less likely to have prostate cancer. – Reuters