Researchers Identify Protein Linked to Colon Cancer

A protein has been identified that is linked to colon cancer and a variety of other malignancies, according to researchers at the University of California, Irvine and the John Wayne Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California.

The protein, retinoblastoma-binding protein-1-like protein-1 (RBP1L1), encodes an antigen highly expressed by colon cancer and several other forms of cancer.

"High expression of RBP1L1 messenger RNA was found in human breast, lung, colon, pancreatic, and ovarian cancers and in normal testis, but expression was limited in other normal tissues," said Dr. Cao and colleagues in their study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. "This restricted pattern of expression suggests that RBP1L1 may be a diagnostic molecule marker for a broad range of human cancers."

Researchers isolated RBP1L1 using a purified immunoglobulin G from a patient with breast cancer to screen breast cancer cell cDNA for tumor-associated antigen epitopes linked to immune response in patients with cancer.

Researchers are hopeful that this finding may one day lead to developed of a cancer vaccine.

Other sources: Journal of the National Cancer Institute