A new study identifies interleukin 11 as a marker of cancer-associated fibroblasts

(Toho University ) A research group led by Prof. Hiroyasu Nakano of Department of Biochemistry, Toho University Faculty of Medicine, found that interleukin 11 (IL-11)-positive cells rapidly appear in the colons of mice with colitis and colitis-associated colorectal cancers. In RNA-seq analysis of the gene expression profiles, they found that high expression of enriched genes in IL-11-positive fibroblasts correlated with short duration of disease-free survival in human colorectal cancer patients.