A group of colorectal cancer researchers are using the word “milestone” to describe their new genomic research, published today in Nature Genetics.
“Milestone is a very good description,” said epidemiologist Dr. Ulrike “Riki” Peters, associate director of the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and one of the lead authors of the study. “This is very important. It helps us understand what genes are involved in the development of colorectal cancer and it will have a tremendous impact downstream. This is a big deal and we are very, very excited.”
The product of more than five years’ work by scientists at 130 institutions, the paper presents results from the most comprehensive genome-wide association study (aka GWAS) of colorectal cancer risk done to date. Among their findings: 40 new inherited mutations that put people at risk for colorectal cancer, or CRC, the second-deadliest cancer in the world.
