Polyp work may aid cancer fight

Polyps can sometimes lead to colorectal cancer

Scientists hope that a discovery about a condition of the gut could lead to new treatments for cancer.

They have identified a gene that causes a condition known as juvenile polyposis, which leads to abnormal growths - polyps - in the gastrointestinal tract and colon.

Dr Howe's work is significant because it has implications for the wider population

Cancer Research Campaign

They are also at increased risk of colorectal and stomach cancer.

The gene is the second identified as causing juvenile polyposis. Mutations in either of these genes account for nearly half of all cases.

The discovery of the gene could lead to a screening test to identify at risk patients before symptoms develop.

And it is also hoped that better understanding of the genetic basis of the condition could help scientists better understand why it can sometimes trigger cancer.

It might also provide more general information about how colon cancer develops in people without juvenile polyposis.

Most polyps of the colon are abnormalities in the cells that line the colon.

But in juvenile polyposis, the abnormal cells lie just below the cells lining the colon.

It is thought that these abnormal cells may trigger cancer in adjacent tissue.

New targets

Researcher Dr James Howe, of the University of Iowa, said: "If we can understand how these polyps and cancers develop in juvenile polyposis, it may expose a whole new mechanism by which a subset of colon cancer in the rest of the population might form.

"This understanding might also suggest new targets for therapy and for diagnosis."

A spokeswoman for the Cancer Research Campaign told BBC News Online: "Dr Howe's work is significant because it has implications for the wider population.

"Not only will this information benefit people suffering from juvenile polyposis, through better screening and new treatment possibilities, but it will also inform about other, more common cancers, in which this gene could be the cancer causing culprit."

The research is published in the journal Nature Genetics.