Finnish Academy Professors Lauri Aaltonen and Jussi Taipale have identified and described a mechanism whereby a single-base change in the human genome increases the risk of colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in China. Although the association between the epidemiological factors and sporadic colorectal cancer has been studied, the relation between smoking, alcohol drinking, family history of cancer, body mass index (BMI) and sporadic colorectal cancer still remains uncertain. So it is important to investigate the role of these factors in the development of sporadic colorectal cancer.

A new study shows that a large majority of patients who present with advanced colorectal cancer that has spread to other organs (stage IV) don't require immediate surgery to remove the primary tumor in the colon. Researchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) presented their data today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.

The colorectal cancer is thought to be resulted from a combination of environmental factors, diet, lifestyle, chronic inflammation and accumulation of specific genetic alterations. The pathogenesis and development of colorectal cancer involve multi-genes and multi-steps. TSPAN1 is a new member of TM4SF located at chromosome 1 p34.1. It encodes a 241 amino acid protein. TSPAN1 was reported as a tumor-related gene recently.

In a large study, a national team of researchers led by Mayo Clinic scientists observed that self-reported use of hormone therapy was associated with a significantly lower colorectal cancer risk. However, the mechanisms for the apparent protective association are still unclear.

Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center researchers in Milwaukee have learned that a protein, CXCL12, that normally controls intestinal cell movement, has the potential to halt colorectal cancer spreading.

With a pre-emptive, prophylactic skin regimen, patients who receive panitumumab for treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer may be able to avoid some of the skin-associated toxicities, according to data presented at the 2009 American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in San Francisco.

The number of people who need colonoscopies to screen for colorectal cancer is outpacing the number of endoscopists available to perform them, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.

The combination of estrogen plus progestin, which women stopped taking in droves following the news that it may increase their risk of breast cancer, may decrease their risk of colorectal cancer, according to a report published in the January issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

European researchers have found that metastatic colorectal cancer patients with a mutation in the BRAF gene do not respond to anti-EGFR therapy with cetuximab and panitumumab. The finding could help doctors better identify which patients are likely to benefit from such treatment, which is commonly used as last-effort therapy but only works in a fraction of patients.

Research out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine suggests that a surgical technique not traditionally used in advanced abdominal cancer may be a viable treatment option for some patients previously thought to be untreatable, offering the real possibility of extending survival for those patients.

Young adults without a family history of bowel disease are unlikely to develop adenomas, the colorectal polyps most likely to lead to cancer, according to new research directed by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. The finding supports current cancer screening guidelines recommending adults in general undergo screening colonoscopies starting at age 50.