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Two Cancer Studies Find Bacterial Clue in Colon Article by: Gina Kolata

Two Cancer Studies Find Bacterial Clue in Colon Article by: Gina Kolata. Presentation by: Marie Charles Bio 303: Microbiology . Colon Cancer. Question: Might it be caused or pushed along by a bacterial infection? Research: Discover the link by analyzing genetic material from tumor samples .

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Two Cancer Studies Find Bacterial Clue in Colon Article by: Gina Kolata

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  1. Two Cancer Studies Find Bacterial Clue in ColonArticle by: Gina Kolata Presentation by: Marie Charles Bio 303: Microbiology

  2. Colon Cancer • Question: Might it be caused or pushed along by a bacterial infection? • Research: Discover the link by analyzing genetic material from tumor samples

  3. 2 Research Teams: • Dr. Holt and his team at the British Columbia Cancer Agency • Patients from Canada • Dr. Meyerson and team at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston • Patients from U.S, Vietnam, Barcelona, and Spain

  4. What they found: • One particular species of bacterium that is not prevalent in the colon has a high affinity for colon cancers: Fusobacterium • Fusobacterium lurked around the cancer cells and also “burrowed” into the tumor cells • Bacteria was prevalent in patients whose cancer had spread beyond their colons.

  5. What they found (cont’d): • Both research teams all had the bacteria in far greater abundance in their tumor cells than in normal colon cells. • Dr. Holt found an average of 415 times as many Fusobacteria in the tumor cells as in the normal cells when looking at RNA from colon cancer patients. • Dr. Meyerson also found more bacteria in the cancer cells when looking at DNA from colon cancer patients.

  6. Significance • If Fusobacteria does cause colon cancer, researchers can one day create vaccines. • Although there is a link, research is still in its early stages and they still do not know if Fusobacteria spur or cause cancer.

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