'Striking' discovery that may shed light on bowel cancer spike in young people
Scientists have made a breakthrough discovery that a food bug may be behind the spike in bowel cancer cases in young people. E. coli produces a toxin in the body which may be increasing cases of the cancer around the world, especially in the UK. Colibactin is a bacterial toxin caused by a strain of E.coli, which is capable of altering DNA. Researchers, including some from the UK backed by Cancer Research UK, found that exposure to colibactin in early childhood can change the DNA of bowel cells, which may then increase the risk of developing bowel cancer before the age of 50. Data provided by Cancer Research UK up to 2019 suggests that bowel cancer has seen a 52 per cent increase in incidence rates for adults aged 25 to 49 since the early 1990s, reported The Mirror. There are around 2,600 new bowel cancer cases in people aged 25-49 in the UK every year and around 44,100 new cases among all ages. Experts believe that factors such as poor diet, eating more ultra-processed foods, obesity and a lack of exercise are playing a role in this increase. But in this latest study, led by the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and published in the journal Nature, researchers have uncovered another possible explanation. Experts examined 981 colorectal (bowel) cancer genomes from patients with both early and late-onset disease in 11 different countries. They found colibactin can leave behind specific patterns of DNA mutations that are 3.3 times more common in early-onset bowel cancer cases (in the study this was adults under 40) than in those diagnosed after the age of 70. These mutation patterns were also particularly common in countries with a higher rate of early-onset bowel cancer. Senior author, Ludmil Alexandrov, a professor at UCSD, said: 'These mutation patterns are a kind of historical record in the genome, and they point to early-life exposure to colibactin as a driving force behind early-onset disease .' Study first author Marcos Diaz-Gay, a former postdoctoral researcher, said: 'When we started this project, we weren't planning to focus on early-onset colorectal cancer. Our original goal was to examine global patterns of colorectal cancer to understand why some countries have much higher rates than others. "But as we dug into the data, one of the most interesting and striking findings was how frequently colibactin-related mutations appeared in the early-onset cases.' The study also found that colibactin-related mutations account for around 15 per cent of what are known as APC driver mutations – some of the earliest genetic alterations that directly promote cancer development – in bowel cancer. Professor Alexandrov said: 'If someone acquires one of these driver mutations by the time they're 10 years old, they could be decades ahead of schedule for developing colorectal cancer , getting it at age 40 instead of 60." The work is part of Cancer Grand Challenges team Mutographs, funded by Cancer Research UK. Researchers are now developing early detection tests that analyse stool samples for colibactin-related mutations. The director of Cancer Grand Challenges, Dr David Scott, said: 'Globally and in the UK, we're witnessing an alarming increase in some types of cancer in people under the age of 50. 'This study adds an important piece to the puzzle of early-onset cancers, but it isn't conclusive, and more research will be needed to establish a definitive link between colibactin and an increased risk of early-onset colorectal cancer." Professor Sir Mike Stratton, Mutographs team lead and senior group leader at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said: 'We know that diet and lifestyle choices drive the risk of developing colorectal cancer, but this study has opened up a new and exciting route we can take when researching how to lower the rate of early-onset colorectal cancer.'
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The Independent
18 hours ago
- The Independent
What are the symptoms of bowel cancer? Expert reveals warning signs
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The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Scientists celebrate bowel cancer breakthrough in bid to tackle surge in young people
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Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Daily Mirror
Keir Starmer unveils plan to help one million schoolkids in major tech drive
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