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U-M, Israeli scientists report major advance in search for genes associated with colon cancer

An international team of researchers is reporting on a 10-year study of colon cancer among Israeli Jews and Arabs. The researchers, led by a team from the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, discovered a genetic marker that increased a person's risk of colon cancer by 23 percent. At the same time, three other research teams are reporting similar findings involving the same gene, strengthening the likelihood that this particular marker plays a role in colon cancer.

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Keywords: u-m, israeli, scientists, report, major, advance, search, genes, associated, colon, cancer, scientist, gene

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For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. 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