A new adhesion molecule, named P-Cadherin, was linked to the developing stages of colon cancer by researchers at The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. This molecule is normally present during the developing stages of a human fetus, but it then disappears in adults. The new study provides some potentially groundbreaking conclusions as to how P-Cadherin influences the colon mucosa, and favors the appearance of cancer.

 

According to professor Janusz Jankowski, colon formations created by this molecule can be detected more than 10 to 15 years ahead of the appearance of the first cancerous cells. In this type of cancer, the second most deadly after lung cancer, prevention is everything. Worldwide, colon cancer accounts for over 655,000 deaths each year, with 35,000 people developing the disease in the U.K alone.

 

Needless to say, a discovery that can “foretell” if a person is predisposed to getting colon cancer is of major importance. Scientists say that it's far more likely for cancer to develop in a mucosa inflamed by buds around P-Cadherin than in a normal bowel. Normally, the human body suppresses this molecule and renders it ineffective. But inflamed intestines prove to be a perfect place for the adhesion molecule to multiply and begin clogging around itself to form buds.

 

If pre-cancer formations are discovered long before the disease sets in, doctors say that alternative lifestyles or preemptive treatments can be employed to minimize the damage or to prevent the disease from appearing altogether. If this system works, people will have to get regular check-ups once or twice a year, so as to maximize the chances of potential cancer cells being discovered.

 

“If the changes in cell adhesion are understood and can then be identified so early in the disease then patients can be offered preventative therapy or even change of lifestyle to avert cancer developing at all." said professor Jankowski, after publishing the study in the October 1st issue of the journal “Cancer Research.”