In a few genes, this had occurred five years before diagnosis. Such findings unlock the possibility of a diagnostic test well before the disease manifests itself, and of developing drugs that prevent – or even reverse – the cancer’s development.
我的团队和我最近研究了36对同卵双胞胎，其中只有一对双胞胎患有乳腺癌。这些“遗传克隆体”没有重大差别。在罹患乳腺癌的那对双胞胎中，数百个基因被关闭了。某些基因在确诊前5年就关闭了。这一发现使在疾病自我恶化之前很久就确诊成为了可能，也让开发预防——甚至逆转——癌症发展的药物成为可能。