A study from the National Cancer Center Japan has unveiled that Japanese cancer patients exhibit higher rates of mutations in the TP53 gene when juxtaposed with patients in the United States. The research team, led by Keisuke Kataoka from the National Cancer Center Research Institute, examined genomic profiles of 50,000 Japanese individuals with different cancer types including colorectal cancer, bile duct cancer, and head and neck cancer. These findings indicated a disparity in gene mutations across different racial groups, emphasizing the necessity for drug companies to consider genetic variations among Japanese and other Asian cancer patients during drug development.
The study highlighted a deficiency in treatments customized to combat specific gene mutations in biliary tract cancer, a cancer type more prevalent in Japan than in the Western regions. The insights offered by this study, publicized on February 29, are anticipated to prompt pharmaceutical companies to incorporate genetic characteristics specific to Japanese and other Asian populations when creating new medications. By scrutinizing genomic profiles collected up to August 2023 by the National Cancer Center Japan, this study emerged as the first endeavor in Japan to map out a comprehensive view of tumor-causing mutations across various cancers, presenting one of the largest genomic analyses of cancer in Asia.
Certain cancers, like bladder cancer and colon cancer, demonstrated a high occurrence of missing or damaged TP53 genes among the Japanese patients examined in this research. Conversely, the analysis exhibited that only 15.3% of the cases had access to drugs tailored to target specific gene mutations, with thyroid cancer, breast cancer, and lung adenocarcinoma patients having relatively more options. However, patients with other cancer forms encountered limited choices, particularly those with biliary tract cancer, a disease more frequently encountered in Japan than in the Western world. The integration of molecular-genetic information to identify mutations in cancer cells, aiding doctors in prescribing targeted drugs customized for particular patient profiles, has become more commonplace in Japan recently.