By Fiona Macrae

Last updated at 11:55 PM on 7th March 2012

British scientists have begun to unlock one of cancers most deadly secrets.

In a breakthrough likened to going from watching TV in black and white to colour, theyve discovered that a single cancer can be dramatically different within one person.

Different parts of a single tumour can have different genes. And a tumour that has spread to the chest can be genetically very different to the original tumour in the kidney.

Difference: Scientists have found that different parts of a single cancer tumour have different genes, possibly explaining why cancer can be so difficult to treat

The finding is important because cancer has traditionally been thought of as a disease in which a single cell starts dividing out of control, creating a tumour in which every cell is the same.

Now it is clear that the disease is much more complex.

The genetic changes could help explain why cancer causes so many deaths, despite huge advances in medicine, and why a drug that has helped initially suddenly stops working.

Continue reading here:
Complicated cancer: New research shows how genetic changes make the disease so deadly

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