Evidence of a molecular link between inflammation and cancer is outlined in a University of California, San Diego School of Medicine study in the Aug. 6 issue of Cell.The study also found that deleting a gene that plays a role in the inflammatory process greatly reduces tumor development in mice with a form of gastrointestinal cancer.The UCSD scientists found the gene I-kappa-B kinase (IKK beta) acts differently in epithelial and myeloid cells to cause cancer. When the IKK beta gene was deleted in mice, there was a nearly 80 percent reduction in cancer incidence and tumor growth, the researchers said.
