In the U.S., rates of colorectal cancer are rising—especially in younger people. Despite advances in targeted immunotherapies, patients with metastatic disease face poor prognoses. Understanding the molecular pathways underlying colorectal cancer metastasis could lead to better treatments and therapies.

Now, research led by Christopher J. Lengner and M. Andrés Blanco of the School of Veterinary Medicine has identified two genes that suppress metastasis in preclinical models of colorectal cancer. The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

When colon cancer is caught early enough, the survival rates are very high, says Lengner. “But once it metastasizes, five-year survival rates are below 10%.”