Bowel cancer
What is bowel cancer?
The bowel is part of our digestive system and is divided into two parts, the small bowel and the large bowel. The large bowel is made up of the colon and rectum. Bowel cancer, also known as colorectal cancer, can affect any part of the large bowel. It is the second most common cancer in the UK, and kills almost as many people as lung and breast cancer do. It is not just an older person’s disease – 10 per cent of patients are under the age of 50. In many cases bowel cancer has no obvious cause. However, genetics, obesity, high alcohol intake, a diet that is high in fat and red meat and low in fruit, vegetables and fibre, and a lack of exercise can make it more likely.
The MRC and bowel cancer research
Since 2001, the MRC and 18 other major funders of cancer research in the UK have worked in partnership to streamline cancer research. This partnership, called the National Cancer Research Institute, helps maintain strategic oversight of UK cancer research, identifies gaps and opportunities and coordinates the funding activities of partner organisations. Programmes funded range from studies into the basic molecular and genetic processes of cancer to clinical trials of new therapies for specific types of the disease. Here are some of our current bowel cancer programmes:
- Dr Dan Longley of Queen’s University in Belfast is investigating the role a protein called c-FLIP on chemotherapy-induced cancer cell death.
- Dr Wendy Atkin, at Cancer Research UK, is running a multicentre clinical trial testing a technique called once-only flexible sigmoidoscopy, where a small flexible tube is inserted into a person’s rectum, to screen for early signs of bowel cancer. Dr Atkin’s colleague, Dr Christina Thirlwell, is investigating bowel cancer that is associated with a deficiency in a gene that is responsible for DNA repair.
- Professor Mark Hull of the University of Leeds is studying molecular targets for the prevention and treatment of bowel cancer.
- At the MRC Clinical Trials Unit, Dr Matt Seymour is leading a study assessing different lower-dose treatments for patients with advanced bowel cancer who are unsuitable for treatment with full-dose combination chemotherapy due to poor responses to treatment or advanced age. Meanwhile, Professor Tim Maughan is comparing different types of chemotherapy as first-line treatment in patients with bowel cancer that has spread to other parts of their body.