Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have reported findings that revise the existing knowledge regarding the development of colorectal cancer.

The study discovered that a protein (named TCF7L2) previously believed to encourage progression of colorectal cancer, in fact serves to suppress the growth of human cancer cells in culture.

Senior author of the report Dr Lawrence Lum, assistant professor of cell biology at UT Southwestern, commented: "This finding reshapes a fundamental model of how colorectal cancer arises."

The researchers used a new high throughput genetic screening technique, known as RNAi, to identify genes that contribute to the biochemical malfunction which causes around 90 per cent of colorectal cancers.

Dr Lum added: "The function of TCF7L2 in cancer was previously determined from studies in animals but no one has genetically tested its role in human colorectal cancer cells before. Prior to the advent of RNAi technology, this was very difficult to do in human cultured cells."

Results revealed that when TCF7L2 was inactivated, human colorectal cancer cells grew at a more rapid rate in culture, disproving the theory that the protein boosts malignant cell growth.

It is estimated that in Europe every other patient with colon cancer dies from the disease, despite the fact that colorectal cancer can be prevented or cured with early detection.

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