Unsuspected gene found frequently mutated in colorectal, endometrial cancer

Scientists have identified a genetic mutation in about 20 percent of colorectal and endometrial cancers that had been overlooked in recent large, comprehensive gene searches. With this discovery, the altered gene, called RNF43, now ranks as one of the most common mutations in the two cancer types. Investigators from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard said the mutated gene helps control an important cell-signaling pathway, Wnt, that has been implicated in many forms of cancer. Read more here.