The transformation of healthy cells into invasive colorectal tumors is an extraordinarily complex process involving numerous molecular mechanisms, according to cancer biologists who have discovered that low levels of a single enzyme strongly influence the pathway to malignancy. The team highlighted an enzyme named GPT1, which stands for glutamic-pyruvic transaminase 1. Colorectal cancer is characterized by decreased amounts of GPT1, a metabolic enzyme with apparent functions in cancer progression. Li Xiong confirmed decreased GPT1 in CRC patients and demonstrated in a series of experiments that low expression of GPT1 was associated with worse CRC prognoses. "We analyzed transcriptomic profile changes...