MSH2 and intestinal neoplasm: Our previously published tumor induction experiments in Msh2-Lynch mice using the methylating agent TMZ were performed in conventional housing conditions and led to intestinal tumor development in nearly all animals within 4 months.9 Strikingly, when we repeated this experiment in SPF conditions, we noticed a nearly complete loss of the intestinal tumor phenotype in SPF conditions, as well as a reduced and delayed incidence of TMZ-induced lymphomas, manifested by a highly significant increase in survival (Figure 1(d) and Table 1).