As rates of colorectal cancer soar in adults younger than 50—with the American Cancer Society reporting it to be the leading cause of cancer death among such men and the second-leading among such women—scientists have been searching for the cause. Researchers might have just stumbled upon a potential answer without trying.
A team of researchers led by the University of California San Diego has just identified the bacterial toxin colibactin as a potential colorectal cancer culprit. The findings, published in the journal Nature, revealed that childhood exposure to this toxin, which is produced by certain strains of the bacteria E. coli, could cause mutations in the DNA of the colon that increase the risk of developing colorectal cancer before age 50.
