Bowel cancer is no longer just a disease of the elderly. In Australia and around the world, there has been a concerning rise in bowel cancer cases among people under 50, and no one yet knows exactly why.
Leading cancer researcher Professor Michael Samuel – from the Centre for Cancer Biology based at the University of South Australia and the Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Health Research – is at the forefront of a major effort to find answers.
Backed by a $573,833 grant from Bowel Cancer Australia through Cancer Australia, his team has launched a three-year research project to uncover why younger people are increasingly affected and why a significant number of patients relapse after treatment.
“We’ve come a long way in the fight against bowel cancer,” Professor Samuel explains.
“Thanks to better screening, fewer people are dying from it. But early-onset cases are growing, and that’s a mystery we urgently need to solve.”
Recent statistics from the University of Melbourne show that someone born in 1990 is up to three times more likely to be diagnosed with bowel cancer than someone born in 1950.
And the challenge doesn’t end with diagnosis.
About one-third of patients who have their bowel cancer surgically removed later see the cancer return, but there’s currently no way to predict who’s at risk. In people under 50 diagnosed with cancer, the relapse rate is closer to 50 per cent.
“That means that some people are going through intense monitoring and therapy that they might not need, while others who opt out may end up facing a relapse that could have been prevented,” says Professor Samuel. “It’s not good enough. We need tools to predict, prevent, and personalise treatment.”
This is where the team’s breakthrough focus comes in: 10 key biomarkers. These biomarkers (chemicals produced by tumours) are being investigated as potential indicators of both the risk of developing early-onset bowel cancer and the likelihood of a recurrence.
Over the past 12 months, Professor Samuel’s team has worked intensively to lay the groundwork for this biomarker research. Their goal is to use what they learn to:
Identify people at higher risk of early-onset bowel cancer
Predict which patients are likely to experience a relapse
Help guide more accurate and personalised treatment plans
Reduce unnecessary treatments and the side effects they bring.
Bowel Cancer Australia CEO Julien Wiggins says the risk of being diagnosed before age 40 has more than doubled since 2000, and 1-in-9 new bowel cancer cases now occur in people under age 50.
“We need to know the “why” around the substantial increase in younger people getting bowel cancer,” he says. “Investing in innovative and collaborative research across all aspects of early-onset bowel cancer has the potential to improve survival and/or help build a path toward a cure.”
With the investigation into the 10 biomarkers now fully underway, this research offers hope for earlier detection, smarter treatment, and ultimately, better outcomes for bowel cancer patients of all ages.
