Gut microbes spur development of bowel cancer
Tuesday, March 4, 2014 - 08:01
in Health & Medicine
It is not only genetics that predispose to bowel cancer; microbes living in the gut help drive the development of intestinal tumors, according to new research in mice. Bowel cancer, also called colorectal cancer, results from a series of genetic changes (mutations) that cause healthy cells to become progressively cancerous, first forming early tumors called polyps that can eventually become malignant. New research focused on these polyps demonstrated that bacteria are essential for early tumor development.