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Bowel cancer test to improve survival rates

20/08/2008

Stem cell scientists say they have developed a test which could lead to better bowl cancer treatment in the future.

A UK-led team, headed by scientists from Durham University and the North East England Stem Cell Institute, (NESCI), studied tissue samples from 700 bowel cancer patients.

They found patients who had a stem cell marker protein called Lamin A present in their tissue were more likely to have an aggressive form of the disease.

The team believe if the marker can be detected early enough patients can be given chemotherapy in addition to the surgery normally offered.

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK. Each year more than 36,000 people are diagnosed with the disease and worldwide over a million new cases of bowel cancer were diagnosed in 2002.

Almost three-quarters of bowel cancer cases occur in people aged 65 and over. The development of the disease is linked with diet, lifestyle and environmental factors.

There are four key stages of the disease. The stage of a patient's cancer is determined by a series of hospital tests, the results of which then determine the treatment they are given.

In the two early stages of the disease patients normally have an operation to remove the cancer from the bowel. They are rarely given chemotherapy in addition to the surgery. This is because for many patients, who are often elderly and frail, chemotherapy may do more harm than good.

But the new study suggests around one third of patients may have the Lamin A stem cell marker, which indicates the more serious form of the cancer. These patients, argue the scientists, should be given chemotherapy to target the stem cells, which could improve their chances of recovery and ultimately survival.

Professor Chris Hutchison, of Durham University and NESCI, said: "Currently the hospitals use a standard test to work out how far the cancer has progressed and then they use this to determine the treatment the patient should receive. However, we are potentially able to more accurately predict who would benefit from chemotherapy."

Professor Robert Wilson, a consultant surgeon and bowel cancer specialist at The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, added: "We have a very high number of patients with bowel cancer in the north east of England in particular. We know the best treatment for very early and very late disease but there are still a lot of unknowns in-between these two extremes.

"Chemotherapy can be very useful but can have a number of side effects, so we only want to use it where we think there's a good chance it will help. This test will help us determine that."