# Colon Cancer Breakthrough - article



## Guest (Aug 24, 2000)

Not exactly IBS...but still very interesting...---------------- http://www.thestar.com/editorial/news/2000..._CI-CANCER.html ----------------Toronto scientists have discovered how to put the brakes on colon and rectal cancer tumours. It's a major finding that could lead to new hope in the fight against one of the leading cancer killers of Canadians. An estimated 17,000 Canadians will develop colon cancer this year, and, another 6,500 people are expected to die from the disease. Colorectal cancer is the third most-common cancer among men and women. The researchers, from the University of Toronto and the Ontario Cancer Institute, found a protein that acts as a cell messenger. If the protein is present and functioning correctly, the cells lining the walls of the intestine and rectum are told to behave themselves, so it's business as usual. But if it's missing, the message is lost, and the cells start mutating and become cancerous. If researchers add the protein to human colorectal cancer cells, it stops cancerous growths. ``This is brand new. It defines an entirely new field of study,'' said lead researcher Josef Penninger, a University of Toronto professor of immunology and medical biophysics. ``It might be possible to come up with completely new drugs, without the need for radiation or surgery,'' he said yesterday. Penninger also suggested the protein may be added to our food or drinks in the future, giving humans extra ammunition to fight off the cancer. But turning the research into practical medicine for humans will take time and a lot more study, said Dr. Mark Redston, an associate scientist at Mount Sinai Hospital's Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, who also worked on the project. ``There is always lots of talk about designing specific drugs to target specific molecules,'' he said. ``This holds the potential for being one of those targets. But it takes years to develop the drugs.'' The finding was ``completely unexpected,'' Penninger said. His lab was busy examining genetically altered mice, which had been created without the protein to see how their white blood cells respond to infection. They were not looking for links between the protein and cancer. But something strange started happening to the mice, said Penninger. They became skinny, very sick, then started to die. Penninger and post-doctoral student Takehiko Sasaki found the mice were riddled with colon cancer. Probing further, they found out that if the protein - known as p110y - is missing, it causes the spontaneous growth of invasive, colorectal cancer tumours.--But if the protein is injected into mice genetically altered with human colorectal cancer, the tumours stop growing. Using human colorectal cancer tissue samples, they found that in 25 per cent of the samples, the protein was missing. Once they added the protein, it ``shut down'' all colorectal tumour growth. But the protein may be effective in fighting all forms of colorectal cancer, a disease that can be made up of a number of genetic mutations. ``This is very hopeful, because it means even if people have diverse mutations which predispose to colorectal cancer, our protein might have the possibility to shut them all down,'' Penninger said. The findings are being published today in the science journal Nature. While there is no known cause of colon cancer, doctors believe that diet and genetics are two big factors. Research shows people who have close family members who've had colorectal cancer seem to be at a higher risk of the disease. That risk becomes higher if more than one relative has had it or if they have had other cancers such as those in the uterus and stomach. The Canadian Cancer Society recommends eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, and low on fried and fatty foods, can reduce the risk of developing the disease. Often, the disease is difficult to detect until tumour growth has already taken hold. However, regular colorectal screening tests for everyone over 50 can detect the disease, said Dr. Richard Schabas, head of preventive oncology for Cancer Care Ontario, the province's co-ordinator of cancer services. For the past few years, the cancer agency has repeatedly asked the provincial government to support fecal occult colorectal cancer screening for people 50 and over, Schabas said. Ontario's health ministry has agreed to a screening pilot project and details on Cancer Care Ontario's proposal are now being finalized, he added. --


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## JeanG (Oct 20, 1999)

Great article, Ropes. Thanks for posting it.JeanG


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## me3 (Jul 21, 2000)

My mother, my mother's sister, and my father's sister all died of colon cancer. My younger sister died of kidney/lung cancer.Articles like this give me hope!


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## Guest (Aug 28, 2000)

Hi Me3 - I'm sorry to hear about the cancer in your family; I can't imagine the impact that has had on your life.Let's hope that research like this and for other cancers helps work towards a cure.


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