Düsseldorf team unravels the role of hormones in bowel cancer using fruit flies

Researchers at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf have discovered a key mechanism that explains why hormones can have both a protective and a promoting effect in bowel cancer. The researchers used a novel model involving fruit flies. The findings could lead to better treatments for the 60,000 new cases of bowel cancer diagnosed in Germany each year. The study was funded by the Wilhelm Sander Foundation with 100,000 euros over two years and was recently published in the prestigious journal *Nature Communications*.