RIYADH: A team of Saudi scientists at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh has succeeded in identifying a gene responsible for the growth and proliferation of colorectal cancer in Saudi patients. The team has managed to suppress the activity of the gene through a laboratory process. This breakthrough has captured the attention of reputable international institutions, including the American Journal of Pathology. The scientific team led by Dr. Khawla Al-Kuraya, Consultant Pathologist and Senior Scientist for Cancer Research at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, conducted gene scanning of cancerous samples taken from Saudi patients suffering from colorectal cancer and compared them with healthy samples. The team used aviamitrix gene scanning technology, which allows the placing of more than 40,000 genes on a small electronic slide, to compare the activity of natural and cancerous genes. This process has enabled the team to identify a gene called FOXM1 which has an effective and active role in cancerous cells. Addressing a press conference in Riyadh, Al-Kuraya said that the team also examined more than 450 Saudi patients suffering from colon and rectum cancer. The examinations showed that more than 65 percent of patients suffer from the activity of this gene. The team also discovered that these patients suffer from very aggressive cancer which can spread to other organs. The team found that if they add this gene to a cell it grows and multiplies rapidly. It also influences a number of other genes such as MMP9 which helps the cancerous cells to penetrate and spread to tissues adjacent to the cancer. She said the team conducted further research by injecting cancerous cells into several laboratory rats. This was to probe the role of the FOXM1 gene in the proliferation of colorectal cancer. It also injected another group with cancerous cells which did not contain this gene. The team then noticed that the cancerous tumor in the group injected with the FOXM1gene spread in a faster time compared to the other group. This proved the aggressiveness of this gene in cancer patients. She said this finding has enabled the team to suppress the activity of this gene in the laboratory by using a chemical substance resembling an antibiotic called “Thyostrepoine”. The team noticed that this substance halted the activity of this gene and the cell lost its ability to grow and multiply. The team concluded that the identification of the FOXM1 gene is crucial in providing treatment for all types of aggressive colorectal cancers. The results of the research have been published by the American Journal of Pathology, which has selected the gene scanning photo as a cover for its February edition. The result was lauded and displayed on the “Target Intelligence Service” which is an international pharmaceutical database which carries the latest medical results that could yield the discovery of new drugs.
