Genome-Wide Search May Provide Early-Warning System for Cancer
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Screening the genomes of healthy people may give important clues about their cancer risk, according to a study that suggests advanced DNA technology might be employed early in a patient’s health assessment.
Among 572 people who underwent a broad analysis, 12 were found to have genes that put them or their children at elevated risk of dangerous tumors, according to the report from researchers at the U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. Eight of the participants had no family history of cancer that doctors normally look to for signals of heightened susceptibility to malignancies, the study said.