Study successfully explores the link between iron, the APC gene and colorectal cancer

摘要

New research has shown that high levels of iron can switch on a key pathway in patients with faults in the critical anti-cancer gene APC, which can raise the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). The research, conducted by Cancer Research UK scientists, based at the University of Birmingham, UK, and the Beatson Institute for Cancer Research in Glasgow, showed that bowel cancers were two- to three-times more likely to form in mice with an APC gene that were fed with high amounts of iron, compared with mice who still had a fully functioning APC gene. However, mice with the APC gene that were fed very low amounts of iron did not develop bowel cancer at all.