Deadly doughnuts: The cancer risk hidden in babies’ blood

Blood tests of Aussie babies who later developed childhood leukaemia have exposed a sticky, doughnut-shaped molecule that can drive cancer “from within us”.

Researchers found a disease-causing molecule that can cause cancer from within us.

A sticky, doughnut-shaped molecule could trigger DNA mutations that “cause cancer from within us”, “revolutionary” Australian research has revealed.

Flinders University-led research, published in the leading journal Cancer Cell, has identified a new potential cancer risk: high levels of circular RNAs, genetic fragments in cells.

They found specific circular RNAs can stick to parts of our DNA, breaking it and – when the DNA tries to repair itself – influencing how it is put back together.

Lead author Dr Vanessa Conn said these faulty repairs can “convert the cell from a normal cell into a cancerous cell”.

Flinders University Simon Conn said some of the repairs were like “ripping two different books and sticking them together”.

“This repair is not always perfect and this can result in small mutations, like a misspelt word within a book, or worse, very, very large and devastating mutation,” he said.

“This is the first example of a genetic molecule present within many of us which has the capacity to mutate our very own DNA and drive cancer from inside.

“This revolutionary finding – which we call ‘ER3D’ … ushers in an entirely new area of medical and molecular biology research.”

He said they examined blood tests of Queensland babies who later developed childhood leukaemia, finding they had “one hundred times more” circular RNAs in their blood compared to healthy children.

They also conducted animal models, with mice who were given the cells developing “an aggressive form of leukaemia very, very quickly”.

Prof Conn said they also found evidence ‘ER3D’ impact goes beyond leukaemia.

“These circular RNAs are binding to sites linked … to not just leukaemia but other cancers and other human diseases,” he said.

“That is mental retardation, neurodegenerative disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease.”

Prof Conn said future possibilities included using molecules as early markers of disease and investigating “strategies to destroy” the cancer-causing molecules.

He said he and his wife Dr Conn say if their research can help just one person, it will be worth it.