{"id":24933,"date":"2019-02-20T12:00:54","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T18:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/?p=24933"},"modified":"2019-02-21T19:06:56","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T01:06:56","slug":"unam-studies-hereditary-risk-factors-for-childhood-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/unam-studies-hereditary-risk-factors-for-childhood-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"UNAM studies hereditary risk factors for childhood cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In order to detect genetic variants associated with childhood cancer to establish early diagnosis, experts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) conducted a pilot study of the genome of 50 children with that condition, and their parents, to know if there is an inherited genetic alteration that helps detect it<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“In Mexico, cancer is the leading cause of death due to disease in children, and unlike cancer in adults, there are no preventive measures or early diagnosis<\/em>,” said Gabriela Mercado Celis, researcher at the Clinical Genomics Laboratory, in the UNAM\u2019s Faculty of Dentistry (FD).<\/p>\n

The study<\/h3>\n

The research is carried out in the Clinical Genomics Laboratory<\/strong>, in collaboration with the Aqu\u00ed nadie se rinde<\/em> (Here nobody surrenders) private assistance institution, which annually helps between 800 and 1000 families of children with this disease around the country.<\/p>\n

Gabriela Mercado Celis, who directs the research, explained that families who agree to participate are given a family diagram to assess the dynamics, composition, structure and evolutionary cycle of their family<\/strong>. In addition, to identify environmental risk factors, they must answer questionnaires prepared in the Public Health Department of the FD.<\/p>\n

The genetic study is elaborated from saliva samples of both parents and the child with cancer, which are analyzed in the Clinical Genomics Laboratory<\/strong>, where the DNA is purified, sequenced and analyzed trough bioinformatics. The study includes the participation of Jorge Mel\u00e9ndez Zajgla, of the National Institute of Genomic Medicine.<\/p>\n

“Through the analysis of trios (mom, dad and patient) we intend to identify environmental risk factors and\/or mutations, or genetic alterations, as possible causes for the development of pediatric cancer<\/em>,” said \u00d3scar Alonso Luna, a graduate student who participated in the research.<\/p>\n

Without preventive measures<\/h3>\n

It is estimated that 52 percent of childhood cancer cases in Mexico are leukemias, followed by lymphomas (10 percent) and tumors of the central nervous system (10 percent)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Although it represents one percent of all cancer cases, it is a problem, since in the country there are approximately 2,300 deaths per year due to this cause<\/strong>, said Mercado Celis.<\/p>\n

Unlike cancer in adults, where less than five percent is associated with hereditary syndromes, in pediatric patients this figure could be between 10 and 30 percent, even without a family history. “We believe that in most cases there is no history. There are risks, but they have not been identified<\/em><\/strong>,” the expert added.<\/p>\n

Two years ago, Mercado Celis obtained the “Miguel Alem\u00e1n Vald\u00e9s” Medical Research Stimulus, from the Miguel Alem\u00e1n Foundation, in co-sponsorship with the UNAM, to identify some variants of pediatric cancer risk. Now seeks to<\/strong> analyze not only some genes, but the entire genome of children and their parents, make a database and share it with researchers from other parts of the world<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If associated genetic variants are detected, early diagnosis measures could be established and, if appropriate, genetic counseling for families<\/strong>, he said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Laura Vidales, founder of Aqu\u00ed nadie se rinde<\/em>, indicated that they collaborate in the study because all the families have the same concern: to know why their son got sick.<\/p>\n

“When they tell you that your child has cancer, the question we all ask is: why did he get sick? What could I have done to prevent it? And the answer is: ‘We do not know’. It’s very hard<\/em>,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Parents are interested because it is important to know if they have the possibility of having a child at risk of developing cancer, talk about it as a couple, and making decisions. What families can contribute today will help others not to face what we are experiencing<\/em><\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

She said her participation in the study is also because every day six children lose the battle against cancer in Mexico<\/strong>. “With one would be enough for us to do something, but there are six, which makes us join efforts and try something to help this vulnerable group<\/em>,” she concluded.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: <\/strong>DGCS UNAM<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In order to detect genetic variants associated with childhood cancer to establish early diagnosis, experts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) conducted a pilot study of the genome of 50 children with that condition, and their parents, to know if there is an inherited genetic alteration that helps detect it. “In Mexico, cancer …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":24953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[15,12],"class_list":["post-24933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualidad-en-la-salud","tag-casalud","tag-genomica","cat-3-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24933"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24954,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24933\/revisions\/24954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}