Colorectal cancer protein is studied

AARHUS, Denmark, June 27 (UPI) -- Danish scientists have determined new information about a protein called clusterin, which is responsible for colorectal cancer.

Clusterin has been linked with the development of tumor cells and resistance to cancer therapy but how it works isn't well understood.

Claus Lindbjerg Andersen, Torben Falck Orntoft and colleagues at Aarhus University Hospital have discovered clusterin isn't expressed in normal cells, while in 25 percent of colorectal tumors, the cancer cells contain the protein. The researchers also have determined clusterin is actually made by the cancer cells.

The scientists said their findings should help improve therapies against colorectal cancer, especially for patients with tumors producing clusterin.

The study appears in the journal Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.