Fewer intestinal tumors (outlined) form if NF-κB is inactive in epithelial cells (right).

Karin/Elsevier

The association of inflammation with tumors was first noted nearly 2,000 years ago by Galen. Today, chronic inflammation caused by intestinal diseases such as colitis is known to be a major contributing factor to the onset of colon cancer. In a new report by Florian Greten, Michael Karin (University of California, San Diego, CA), and colleagues, NF-κB, an inflammation-inducing transcription factor, is shown to promote intestinal tumors via two pathways in two cell types.

Colon cancers depend on interactions between the intestinal epithelial cells that form the tumors and white blood cells, which trigger inflammation. The authors show that a mouse model of colitis-associated colon cancer is severely reduced if NF-κB is inhibited in either cell type by deleting its activating kinase, IKKβ.

If NF-κB was inhibited in the white blood...

The Rockefeller University Press
2004
The Rockefeller University Press
2004
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