National Cancer Institute Awards OSU $1.25M to Study Colorectal Cancer

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) announced a $1.25 million grant to fund colorectal cancer research at The Ohio State Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.  The grant will fund a study that will look at how two particular genes (AURKA and PTPRJ) affect increased risks of developing colorectal cancer when they interact with certain other regions of DNA in mice.  Utilizing computer modeling and statistical methods, the study will attempt to determine if similar gene interactions occur in humans. 

“Risk for colorectal cancer is part environment and part genetics,” said Amanda Toland, principal investigator on the study and an assistant professor of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics.  “ In the future, we’d like to better identify patients who are at risk for colorectal cancer and develop new therapy options to treat tumors with changes in specific genes.  This study is one of the many steps towards that.”

For more, see the release from OSU Medical Center