Colon cancer mutations
Scientists in Edinburgh developed a new genetic test to identify bowel cancer patients who have an inherited form of the disease.
The test could also be used to detect people at high risk of developing the disease, before any symptoms appear.
The findings suggest that around 4 per cent of bowel cancer patients have hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer - a higher figure than previous estimates.
The paper 'Identification and Survival of Carriers of Mutations in DNA Mismatch-Repair Genes in Colon Cancer' was published in the 'New England Journal of Medicine' on 29 June 2006 (volume 354:2751-2763).
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Image credit: Annie Cavanagh