Test for lung cancer looks for discomforting quiet among protective genes

When it is quiet – “almost too quiet” – in movies, it is a sign that something is about to go wrong for the good guys. This holds true for the genes that protect against lung cancer, as researchers at the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio, have learned. They identified a panel of 15 genes that could serve to predict cancer; if enough of their collective activity becomes quiet – almost too quiet -- it could mean they are being suppressed by other factors in the cell, a step that may lead to cancer.