Previously, only a few genes had been associated with the
formation of metastases in colorectal cancer. Now, researchers
of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-
Buch and Charité – University Medicine Berlin, Germany, have
identified 115 genes that are disregulated both in the primary
tumor and in its metastases. In the future, their findings may
help identify patients with aggressive tumors at an earlier
stage. The National Cancer Institute estimates that, alone in
the United States, 106,100 cases of colon cancer will occur and
49,920 patients will die both from colon and rectal cancer in
2009. Beginning in glands in the bowel lining, colorectal cancer
often remains undiscovered initially. “However, the main problem
is not the primary tumor,” explained the surgeon and clinical
researcher Dr. Johannes Fritzmann, “but the dangerous
metastases.” Metastases arise when single cells break off from
the primary tumor and spread to other body regions via the blood
vessels or the lymphatic system