news

New target for chronic inflammation in colorectal cancer

Posted: 13 July 2018 | | No comments yet

IGF-1 activated by p38 may be a therapeutic target

colorectal cancer

Chronic inflammation is one of the main causes underlying the development of colorectal cancer. More than a million people are diagnosed annually, and treatments range from chemotherapy to surgery. A new mechanism that contributes to the development of inflammation-associated colorectal cancer, pointing to new therapeutic targets, has been reported.

The investigation used models of acute and chronic inflammation in genetically modified mice or in mice treated with pharmacological inhibitors.

Researcher Angel Nebreda at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) reports, “Our study demonstrates that the capacity of myeloid cells to enhance tumourigenesis is determined by protein p38. In particular, we have identified an important contribution of the hormone IGF-1, which is activated by p38 in myeloid cells”.

 

Reserve your FREE place

 


Are you looking to optimise antibody leads in your drug discovery? Register for this webinar to find out how!

30 July 2025 | 10:00 AM BST | FREE Webinar

Join this webinar to hear from Dr. Lei Guo as she shares how early insights into liability, PK, stability, and manufacturability can help you optimise antibody leads in early drug discovery – and mitigate downstream risks later in development.

What You’ll Learn:

  • How to assess key developability risks early
  • How in silico modelling and in vitro testing can be combined to predict CMC risks earlier in discovery stage
  • How micro-developability strategies are tailored for complex or novel formats

Don’t miss your chance to learn from real-world leaders

Register Now – It’s Free!

 

IGF-1 is a hormone similar to insulin and could be seen as a therapeutic target, in combination with a prior recognition of inflammation in biopsies in patients, and levels of IGF-1 associated with inflammation. This information may aid success in clinical trials, where currently inhibitors of p38 have a low success rate.

Successful p38 inhibition in mice myeloid cells protected the mice from inflammation-associated colorectal cancer.

“This protective effect is associated with a reduced production of chemokines, which are crucial for the recruitment of cells from the immune system”, explains Catrin Youssif, first author.

The team concluded the study with advice for those regarding therapy, “on the basis of our findings, we propose that decisions regarding therapy should take into consideration the inflammatory conditions and levels of IGF-1 in biopsies of patients with inflammatory intestinal diseases or colitis-associated cancer”.

This study has been published in EMBO Molecular Medicine.

Related conditions

Related organisations

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *