New research has identified a gene that increases the amount of glucose available to colorectal cancer cells. Michael Shusterman, MD, a gastrointestinal oncologist at NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, tells TODAY that the new research suggests that inflammation in the tumor’s environment might speed tumor growth.

“The newly identified gene is not a classic gene we understand as having been linked to colon cancer,” says Dr. Shusterman, also a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Long Island School of Medicine. “The gene is essentially a kind of glucose regulator.”

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