Study identifies enzymes needed to mend tissue damage after inflammation
A major risk factor for colon cancer — the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States — is chronic inflammation of the colon. Nearly 10 percent of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) eventually develop colon cancer.A new study from MIT demonstrates that this cancer arises from a specific type of DNA damage produced during inflammation. The researchers, led by Leona Samson, professor of biological engineering and biology, showed that mice that cannot repair this type of DNA damage are susceptible to colon cancer. The team also identified three enzymes critical to repairing this damage. Previous studies have shown that humans produce widely varying amounts of one of the enzymes, so the findings offer a possible explanation for why some IBD patients are more likely to develop colon cancer, Samson says. Measuring these enzyme levels in...