Researchers from the U.K. found that a common variant in the CRAC1 gene is associated with increased colon cancer risk in the general population.

Rare combinations of variants in the CRAC1 gene are associated with greatly increased risk of a rare, familial form of colon cancer called hereditary mixed polyposis syndrome (HMPS) in Ashkenazi Jews. In fact, the name CRAC1 stands for colorectal adenoma and carcinoma 1, and another name for this gene is HMPS. The researchers hypothesized that common SNPs in this gene might cause smaller increases in colon cancer risk in the general population. They were able to confirm this in a series of nearly 8,000 colon cancer cases and 7,000 controls in the U.K.

More: To read an abstract of this paper on the medical database PubMed, click here.