Scientists find potential treatment to curb liver and bowel cancer growth

Researchers at the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute in Glasgow report that blocking the protein nucleophosmin (NPM1) may halt growth driven by WNT pathway errors in some liver and bowel cancers, according to a paper in Nature Genetic.

Scientists in Glasgow report a potential way to stop growth in some liver and bowel cancers. Researchers at the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute focused on genetic errors that let tumours hijack the WNT signalling pathway, which controls cell growth. They found higher levels of the protein nucleophosmin (NPM1) in bowel cancer and some liver cancers linked to these errors. In experiments, blocking NPM1 made cancer cells struggle to produce proteins and allowed a tumour suppressor to activate, which prevented tumour growth. Key findings: - The research was conducted by the Cancer Research UK Scotland Institute in Glasgow and is reported in a paper in Nature Genetic. - The study links genetic faults in the WNT signalling pathway to increased levels of nucleophosmin (NPM1) in some bowel and liver cancers. - Removing or blocking NPM1 impaired cancer cells' protein production and enabled activation of a tumour suppressor in the study’s experiments. - The article notes that bowel cancer causes about 1,700 deaths annually in Scotland and liver cancer about 670. Summary: The study identifies NPM1 as a possible target for cancers that exploit the WNT pathway and describes laboratory findings where blocking NPM1 slowed tumour growth. Undetermined at this time.