Stopping colon cancer before it starts: Dan Borutta

Dan Borutta felt lucky to know he had inherited familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) from his father. Why lucky? In Dans case, knowledge was power. His grandmother and two uncles did not know they had it and died of colon cancer as a result.

Patients with FAP, a rare genetic disorder causing numerous precancerous polyps in the digestive tract, can avoid colon cancer through yearly polyp removal and the eventual removal of the colon. But when Dans FAP affected his stomach, he feared the worst. So Dans gastroenterologist referred him to Baylor to see C. Richard Boland, M.D., a member of the Baylor Dallas medical staff and a leading expert on FAP and colorectal cancer. Dr. Boland met with Dan and explained that his stomach polyps were not precancerous and required no treatment.

My wife and I feared I would lose a part of my stomach. Now we know that wont happen and I can survive this disease. We feel very fortunate to have access to Dr. Boland and his expertise. When caught early, colon cancer can be successfully treated. Yet, it still kills about 50,000 people in the United States each year. C. Richard Boland, M.D., chief of gastroenterology on the medical staff at Baylor Dallas, would like to lower that figure dramatically with a vaccine that could prevent most colon cancers from ever forming.

Funded by a recent $1.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Boland is continuing his research of the JC virus, a suspected key player in the development of colon cancer. About 80 percent of us pick up the JC virus by the age of five and usually, the virus lives harmlessly in our intestines. But it can make a mistake and mutate during its normal replication. The mutated virus cells have a chromosomal instability that enables the development of colon cancer. The current phase of Dr. Bolands research could determine the precise role of the JC virus in colon cancer. If the virus proves to be the critical agent, Dr. Boland will work with Jacques Banchereau, Ph.D., director of the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research, to develop a vaccine against the JC virus.