Individuals who have health conditions associated with chronic inflammation are often at increased risk of developing cancer at the site of the chronic inflammation. For example, individuals with inflammatory bowel disease and those who are chronically infected with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori are at increased risk of colon cancer and stomach cancer, respectively. New insight into the mechanisms by which chronic inflammation can contribute to the development cancer has been generated in mice by Leona Samson and colleagues, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston.
Using mice lacking the protein Aag, which is involved in the repair of DNA damaged by inflammation-associated molecules known as reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS), it was shown that Aag-mediated DNA repair limits cell damage in a mouse model of episodic inflammatory bowel disease and reduces the severity of the colon cancer that develops in the mice experiencing episodic bowel inflammation. In addition, in a mouse model of Helicobacter pylori infection, Aag-deficient mice were found to exhibit more severe cell damage and the damaged area of the stomach resembled that observed prior to the development of stomach cancer. The authors therefore conclude that repair of DNA damage caused by RONS seems to be important for protection against chronic inflammation–induced cancer.
Comments on this entry are closed.