ROS1 cancer, also known as ROS1 positive cancer, is a type of cancer that occurs when the ROS1 gene fuses with another gene, causing uncontrolled cell growth. ROS1 gene is inactive as an adult, but active in the womb. The regeneration of cells is occurring all the time inside our bodies. For reasons we don’t understand, the genetic abnormality which appears as a ROS1 fusion, means that the ROS1 gene is turned on to grow, divide and replicate. As a foetus its under control and will stop. But in ROS1 fusions, they keep on replicating and these develop as tumours.
There are ROS1 duplications and amplifications but the only one that matters in this case is the ROS1+ fusion which causes ROS1 positive cancer.
To determine if you have ROS1 positive cancer, analysis of the cancer cells needs to be performed. This can be done through obtaining tumour tissue samples, also called the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and/or performing blood tests (‘liquid biopsies’). Talk to your doctor to make sure one of these tests was performed. Your doctor may perform several of these tests at the same time to help confirm results.
Everyone! As of now, there is no known cause for developing ROS1 positive cancer. Generally seen in adenocarcinoma non-small cell lung cancer, the ROS1 gene is found in around 1-2% of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.
It’s vital to not look back, and instead the focus should be on living well and getting the cancer under control. Biologically it’s not associated with tobacco usage. ROS1-positive patients are often non-smokers and are younger than the typical lung cancer patient. When found in previous smokers, its likely occurred before their smoking cancer has developed, due to the early age that ROS1 is usually found at.
One cell to a perceivable lump on a CT takes about a year. Please note that the founder event of first cell with the genetic abnormality, which is then only typically discovered after cancer metastasises and is picked up in the healthcare system, is probably 5-10 years prior.
While its unknown what the actual causes are, there are some breadcrumbs like:
These are all scientific hypotheses though, rather than causative factors – and as forementioned it’s not a productive use of time to try and play the blame game.
The most common of ROS1 positive Cancer is non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The others primary cancers associated with ROS1 are listed below:
