New Drugs May Combat Colon Cancer Genes
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Johns Hopkins University researchers have found a collection of genes involved in colon cancer and say that new cancer drugs may be able to counteract them. The team reported in Friday’s issue of Science that the genes, when mutated, could play a role in 30% of colon cancer cases.
They identified 46 mutations in the 14 newly identified genes. Colorectal cancer is the third-most common cause of U.S. cancer deaths, killing 57,000 people a year. The healthy forms of the genes all act to suppress cancer cell growth.
