Individuals with the inflammatory bowel disease ulcerative colitis are at increased risk of developing colon cancer. New data generated by Naofumi Mukaida and colleagues at Kanazawa University, Japan, identified a central role for the soluble factor TNF-alpha in the development of colon cancer in mice in which inflammation of the bowel was induced by administration of azoxymethane (AOM) followed by repeated dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) ingestion.
