Scientists Find Bowel Cancer Genes that Triple Risk
10 March 2008 - Cancer Research UK-funded Institute scientists have identified two common genetic variants that could triple a person’s risk of getting bowel cancer. The study was jointly led by Professor Richard Houlston from The Institute of Cancer Research and Professor Ian Tomlinson from the London Research Institute.
The researchers estimate that up to a third of all bowel cancers may be associated with these newly identified, high-risk variants of the genes – about 12,000 cases per year in the UK. The increased risk of bowel cancer when these two genes are present is small, but if both these and two other high-risk genetic variants identified earlier this year are present, a person can have a two to three fold increased risk of developing bowel cancer.
In a previous investigation, a genetic region responsible for Hereditary Mixed Polyposis Syndrome (HMPS) – a condition that increases bowel cancer risk in Ashkenazi Jews was located. In this study, the search was narrowed down to try to find the specific genes responsible for HMPS by analysing the genomes of nearly 15,000 people, including nearly 8,000 bowel cancer cases.
The scientists did not find any genes directly responsible for HMPS but instead found that the HMPS region contained other genes that increase bowel cancer risk in the general UK population.
Professor Richard Houlston, joint lead researcher based at The Institute of Cancer Research, said: "This is an exciting development in our understanding of how bowel cancer develops, a disease which kills more than 16,000 people in the UK each year. By pinpointing more genes which increase an individual's risk of bowel cancer we ultimately hope to improve diagnosis and treatment of this cancer."
Professor Richard Houlston leads the Molecular and Population Genetics Team in The Institute's Section of Cancer Genetics, which aims to identify genetic factors that increase the chance of cancer occurring.
