Nation IN BRIEF : NATIONWIDE : Researchers Discover Tumor-Control Gene

Cancer researchers say they’ve discovered a key tumor-control gene which, when abnormal, leads to several types of cancer. The gene, named FHIT, is involved in a number of airway and digestive tract tumors and is thought to work normally as the vital shield which blocks the growth of many deadly tumors, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia found. “We believe we have found the starting point of the most common human malignancies, including lung, esophagus and colon cancer,” said Dr. Carlo M. Croce, director of Jefferson’s Kimmel Cancer Center. The study, and its origins in the case of a family stricken by kidney cancer, are reported in the journal Cell.