An impediment to colon cancer?
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
People with Down syndrome suffer cancer less than most other people, and a study in mice published Thursday in the journal Nature gives one possible explanation -- they produce higher levels of a protein that may keep tumors from growing.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that a gene called Ets2 protected mice from colon cancer.
The researchers used mice bred to develop colon cancer at extreme rates, and genetically engineered them to produce extra amounts of Ets2. The more Ets2 the mice had, the less likely they were to develop colon cancer.
The gene lies on chromosome 21. People with Down syndrome have an extra copy of chromosome 21 and thus produce more Ets2.
