A team of researchers including Wendy S. Garrett, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘06-‘09), Matthew L. Meyerson, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘95-‘98), Akinyemi I. Ojesina, MBBS, PhD (Damon Runyon Fellow ‘08-‘11) and Ramesh A. Shivdasani, MD, PhD (Damon Runyon Scholar ‘98-‘99) at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute, Cambridge, reported high levels of a specific type of bacteria, Fusobacterium, in colorectal tumor samples. Future studies will focus on determining the connection between the bacterium and cancer. If there is a link to disease development, the bacterium may be important for diagnosis, prevention and/or treatment. The study was published in the journal Genome Research.
