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British scientists make 'pivotal' breakthrough in fight against bowel cancer - as cases soar in under 50s
Scientists have discovered how bowel cancer becomes more aggressive and harder to treat—a breakthrough that could pave the way for vital new treatments.
Researchers say certain tumours are able to change form in order to survive and spread more easily through the body.
The study, by experts at the University of Edinburgh, found that in some patients, bowel cancer cells can transform into tougher types of cells, including those normally found in skin and muscle.
This 'shapeshifting' behaviour—known as cellular plasticity—helps the disease resist treatment and increases the risk of it spreading, which makes it far more dangerous.
Dr Patrizia Cammareri, who led the research, explained: 'Skin cells are built to cope with more stress than other types of cells, so this may be a trick the cancer uses to become stronger and spread.'
The findings are particularly important in light of the mysterious global rise in bowel cancer among younger adults, the doctors added.
Dr Kevin Myant, fellow cancer expert at Edinburgh and another author of the paper, added: 'With more and more younger people being diagnosed with bowel cancer, it's vital we understand how this disease grows and develops.
'Our research has discovered one way that aggressive bowel cancer is able to spread is by "shapeshifting" to resemble skin or muscle cells rather than bowel cancer cells.
'This finding will hopefully allow us to develop new treatments to stop these cells changing and prevent the cancer spreading, when it becomes much harder to treat.'
Dr Cammareri added: 'This finding could be pivotal in halting the progression of aggressive cancer and providing better outcomes for patients.'
Publishing their findings in the journal Nature, the team also examined a particular gene which is already associated with aggressive bowel cancer, Artx.
Testing on both animal and human tissue, they found that the loss of this gene resulted in more metastatic tumours which spread from the bowel to the liver, lymph nodes and diaphragm.
Bowel cancer is the second biggest cause of cancer deaths in the UK, with 16,800 Britons dying from the disease every year, with the death toll rising to about 50,000 in America.
Outcomes vary depending on when the disease is found with 90 per cent of patients diagnosed at the earliest stages surviving at least five years.
But only one in 10 patients survive five years if their disease in caught in the later stages when the cancer has spread to distant body parts.
A recent global study of the disease by the American Cancer Society published in The Lancet Oncology found rates of bowel cancer in under 50 year-olds are rising in 27 of 50 nations, including the UK.
England is averaging a 3.6 per cent rise in younger adults every year - one of the highest increases recorded.
While the disease is linked to obesity, experts have noted that the disease seems to also be occurring in fit and healthy patients.
As such, some experts believe the explanation must lie in environmental factors young people have been exposed to more than previous generations.
While no 'smoking gun' has been found, there are multiple theories.
These include ultra-processed foods microplastics, pollution, and one recent study pinned the surge on exposure to in food.
There are around 2,600 new bowel cancer cases in people aged 25-49 in Britain every year, and around 44,100 new cases among all ages, with about 130,000 in the US.
Signs of bowel cancer include abdominal pain, a lump in the abdomen, bloating and feeling very tired or short of breath.
Bleeding from the back passage, or blood in the stool, occurs when cancerous tumours bleed into the digestive tract.
However, bowel cancer can also appear with no symptoms until it has spread, where it becomes harder to treat.
Overall, just over half of bowel cancer patients are expected to be alive 10 years after their diagnosis.
