THURSDAY, Nov. 20, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- A $10-million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health will be used by researchers at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City to investigate how a diet high in fat and phosphorus and low in calcium and vitamin D may predispose people with genetic mutations to develop cancer of the intestine.
This is the first major national study to explore how a Western-style diet that mimics the key risk factors for colon cancer interacts with genetic factors and molecular pathways to increase the risk of intestinal cancer.
Researchers will use a genetic research tool called microarray analysis and other technologies designed to image gene expression and analyze protein structure.
They plan to determine on a molecular level how each component of the Western diet by itself, and in combination with genetic mutations known to initiate tumor formation, influences 27,000 specific genes and the mechanisms of intestinal cell growth that can lead to tumor formation.
The study will link data from both animal research and human clinical trials.
More information
Here's where you can learn more about diet and cancer risk.
