{"id":118356,"date":"2025-08-04T14:11:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T14:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/118356\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T14:11:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T14:11:11","slug":"new-mayo-clinic-tool-exposes-hidden-cancer-dna-changes-that-may-drive-treatment-resistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/118356\/","title":{"rendered":"New Mayo Clinic Tool Exposes Hidden Cancer DNA Changes That May Drive Treatment Resistance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newswise \u2014 ROCHESTER, Minn. \u2014\u00a0Some of the most harmful genetic changes in cancer are also the hardest to see. These structural alterations, deep within a tumor’s DNA, can fuel aggressive growth and evade standard testing, especially when tissue samples are small or degraded. To address this challenge,\u00a0Mayo Clinic<\/a>\u00a0researchers have developed a new tool that illuminates these elusive genomic patterns.<\/p>\n

The tool, called BACDAC, helps researchers identify signs of genomic instability using DNA sequencing that reads the entire genome, even in low-purity or low-coverage samples.\u00a0It could help clinicians better predict how a tumor will behave and guide more personalized treatment choices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the core of BACDAC’s approach is the concept of ploidy, which refers to the number of complete sets of chromosomes in a cell. While normal human cells have two sets (46 chromosomes total), cancer cells often show large-scale gains or losses, disrupting this balance and enabling unchecked growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a study\u00a0published<\/a>\u00a0in Genome Biology, the research team used BACDAC to analyze more than 650 tumors across 12 cancer types. The tool helped researchers detect signs of whole-genome doubling, where a tumor duplicates all of its DNA. This type of abnormal ploidy is often linked to aggressive behavior and treatment resistance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“This tool lets us see a layer of the genome that’s been invisible until now,” says\u00a0George Vasmatzis, Ph.D.<\/a>, a lead author of the study and co-director of Mayo Clinic’s Biomarker Discovery Program. “We’ve spent decades studying the biology of genomic instability. This is the first time we’ve been able to translate that knowledge into a tool that works at scale.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

BACDAC also provides a visual summary of a tumor’s genomic landscape. A custom output called the Constellation Plot offers an intuitive view of whether the tumor’s chromosomes are stable or disrupted. This may help researchers and pathologists interpret results more easily.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Next, the Mayo Clinic team plans to further validate BACDAC and develop it into a clinically deployable diagnostic tool. It may help inform treatment decisions by providing a clearer view of a tumor\u2019s structural changes.<\/p>\n

The study was supported in part by the\u00a0Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine<\/a>\u00a0and the Mayo Clinic Center for Digital Health. For a complete list of authors, disclosures and funding,\u00a0review the study<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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About Mayo Clinic<\/strong>
Mayo Clinic<\/a>\u00a0is a nonprofit organization committed to innovation in clinical practice, education and research, and providing compassion, expertise and answers to everyone who needs healing. Visit the\u00a0Mayo Clinic News Network<\/a>\u00a0for additional Mayo Clinic news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newswise \u2014 ROCHESTER, Minn. \u2014\u00a0Some of the most harmful genetic changes in cancer are also the hardest to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":118357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[1943,235,11077,815,1142,19400,73999,1941,3725,159,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-118356","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-genetics","8":"tag-all-journal-news","9":"tag-cancer","10":"tag-cell-biology","11":"tag-genetics","12":"tag-healthcare","13":"tag-mayo-clinic","14":"tag-mayo-clinic-researchgenetic-researchcancer-research","15":"tag-newswise","16":"tag-personalized-medicine","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114970904630922170","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}