Cancer risk associated with inflammatory bowel disease

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease have an elevated risk for developing colorectal cancer because of this chronic inflammation.
In an effort to develop strategies to break the cycle of inflammation, Dr. Brent Polk and colleagues at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles examined two mouse models of colorectal cancer.
Their work shows that inactivating a key receptor, known as epidermal growth factor receptor, increases the frequency and severity of colorectal tumors.