Health

Colon cancer indicator

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Oct. 13, 2008

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Scientists have discovered that a molecule produced by a common gut bacterium activates signaling pathways associated with cancer cells. Findings were published in the October Journal of Medical Microbiology.

Normal gut bacteria had long been thought to be involved in colon cancer, but the exact mechanisms have been unknown. Enterococcus faecalis was found to release during fermentation a kind of oxygen molecule called superoxide, which can damage DNA and may play a role in the formation of colon tumors.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/10/13/hlbf1013.htm.

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