November 12, 2026

expert reaction to study in mice suggesting high-fat diet may increase risk of colon cancer through changes in intestinal stem cells

Scientists react to study in mice published in Stem Cell Reports* suggesting high-fat diet may increase risk of colon cancer through changes in intestinal stem cells.

Prof Dusko Ilic, Professor of Stem Cell Science, King’s College London:

“This is an interesting mechanistic study of intestinal stem cells (ISCs), which reside at the base of the crypts of Lieberkühn (intestinal glands) in both the small intestine and colon. However, the experiments were conducted in mice and focused on the small intestine. The study therefore does not show that a high-fat diet causes colon cancer in people, or that changing diet reverses cancer risk. Some changes in chromatin accessibility persisted after the mice returned to a control diet. Whether these changes contribute to colorectal cancer risk in humans remains to be established.”

Prof Darius Widera, Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, University of Reading, said:

“This is an interesting study suggesting that the stem cells responsible for renewing the gut lining in mice can ‘remember’ a previous Western-style high-fat diet, potentially making them more prone to tumour growth when exposed to it again. However, the increased tumour growth was seen in mice with an introduced genetic change – the researchers switched off a gene called Apc specifically in the gut stem cells. Apc normally helps keep cell growth under control, so switching it off allowed them to examine how diet affected early tumour growth. Therefore, we cannot assume the same effects occur in people.

“This study also does not establish that switching to a low-fat diet prevents bowel cancer in humans – the study measured changes in stem cells and the growth of experimentally triggered, early-stage tumours, rather than whether a low-fat diet reduced the likelihood of developing bowel cancer over time.”

* ‘Diet-induced chromatin states influence intestinal stem cell behavior’ by Dominic R. Saiz et al. was published in Stem Cell Reports on Thursday 12th November.

DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.stemcr.2026.103146

Declared interests

Prof Dusko Ilic: “I have no conflict of interest to declare.”

Prof Darius Widera: “I have no conflict of interest to declare.”