Together, the observed CA-CRC hyper-susceptibility phenotype of Irf1−/− mutant mice, the combined immunological and transcriptomic analysis of this phenotype, and the intersection noted with human IBD and human colorectal cancer datasets provide evidence for a strong role of IRF1 in the development of pathological inflammation in IBD and its progression to colorectal cancer. The gene discussed is IRF1; the disease is inflammatory bowel disease.