Espa?ol
PDFs by language
Our 24/7 cancer helpline provides information and answers for people dealing with cancer. We can connect you with trained cancer information specialists who will answer questions about a cancer diagnosis and provide guidance and a compassionate ear.?
Chat live online
Select the?Live?Chat button at the bottom of the page?
Call us at?1-800-227-2345
Available any time of day or night
Our highly trained specialists are available 24/7 via phone and on weekdays can assist through online chat.?We connect patients, caregivers, and family members with essential services and resources at every step of their cancer journey. Ask us how you can get involved and support the fight against cancer. Some of the topics we can assist with include:
For medical questions, we encourage you to review our information with your doctor.
Most colorectal cancer (CRC) cells have a change (mutation) in one of two genes—the APC gene or the beta-catenin gene. Research suggests that after the gene mutates, the very first tumor cells can become hypermutated, meaning they develop more mutations, get stronger, and can survive better.
When this happens, the cancer eventually spreads far from where it first started, advancing to a late-stage cancer that’s hard to treat. A better understanding of how CRC cells progress from having only one mutation to having many mutations?could help lead to new treatments.
Nan?Gao, PhD, at Rutgers in Newark, and his team want to find a way to stop those early tumors with only one mutation from getting stronger and having multiple mutations. One suspect is a protein that acts like a switch, called Cdc42-v2. When this protein is “turned on,” it helps tumors grow. If Gao and his team can find a way to “turn off” this protein, they could limit the cancer’s progression and spread.
Cdc42-v2 is normally found in the brain, but this “switch” can get “turned on” by mistake in CRC cells in the intestines. Gao and his team thought that finding out how this protein works in mice could help scientists develop treatments to kill CRC in the early stage.
CRC can be triggered by repeated injuries to the lining of the intestines. Gao’s team discovered that the injured lining of a mouse’s intestine can be changed back to its earlier phase, called a cancer stem cell.
These cells divide more slowly and don’t respond well to the drugs that kill 99% of the more rapidly dividing cancer cells. It they’re not stopped, they can “re-seed" the cancer.
he described how he and his team found that these intestinal cancer stem cells in mice need Cdc42-v2 to grow. Removing or “turning off” Cdc42-v2 stops tumor growth. Gao also discovered another group of proteins (called GTPase) that can stop CRC from growing.??
The researchers hope what they learned about Cdc42-v2 will someday translate into treatments that target the protein. If that happens, such treatments could help stop CRC before it really gets started.?
?
? ??? ?
If this was helpful, donate to help fund patient support services, research, and cancer content updates.