New genetic research offers hope to bowel cancer patients

Scientists at the University of Dundee have identified new genetic 'hotspots' for bowel cancer, offering doctors a way of tailoring treatment to benefit individual patients' medical needs.

According to the research, this discovery could help experts match therapies to as many as 3,000 more bowel cancer sufferers a year.

Dr Rob Glynne Jones, expert advisor at Bowel Cancer UK, said: "The problem we have is that the cancers are very heterogeneous (contain multiple variations).

"This is another step in the direction of being able to be very specific about the individual's chance of responding to the treatment, and in making these expensive drugs more cost effective."

The findings follow recent national figures from Cancer Research, which show that over 37,500 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year in the UK - the equivalent to more than 100 people every day.

More than eight in ten bowel cancer cases occur in people aged 60 and over, statistics show.

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