Bright thinking for bowel cancer

Bowel cancer is probably the best-known of the gastrointestinal cancers. It’s the fourth most common cancer in the UK. Statistics show that 1 in 17 men and 1 in 20 women will be diagnosed with bowel cancer.

Common symptoms of bowel cancer can include:

changes in your poo, such as having softer poo, diarrhoea or constipation that is not usual for you
needing to poo more or less often than usual for you
blood in your poo, which may look red or black
bleeding from your bottom
often feeling like you need to poo, even if you've just been to the toilet
tummy pain
a lump in your tummy
bloating
losing weight without trying
feeling very tired for no reason

Source: nhs.uk

You can visit the NHS website or Bowel Cancer UK to find out more about symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.

What do we know about gastrointestinal cancers?

Gastrointestinal cancer covers a group of cancers that affect your digestive system:

Oesophageal cancer
Stomach (gastric) cancer
Small intestine cancer
GI neuroendocrine tumours
Bowel (colorectal) cancer
Anal cancer

We know that cancers of the GI tract often spread through the body – often referred to as ‘metastatic’ or ‘secondary’ cancer. Our funding is dedicated to supporting researchers to find out more about bowel cancer, its related cancers and effective treatment.

Bowel and GI cancer research

We’re currently supporting a range of research projects, including:

Dr Sharadah Essapen, Consultant Clinical Oncologist and BRIGHT Trustee has been working with Professor Modjtahedi of Kingston University on a four-year research project exploring targeted treatments for colorectal cancer patients.

This project is investigating the use of biomarkers (a substance whose detection indicates a particular disease state) expressed on tumour cells, which could potentially lead to new antibody-based drugs targeted to the individual patient.

Identifying these biomarkers is important as it will help to prevent patients being given unnecessary treatment.

Following the purchase of the Papillon Machine, which delivers targeted low energy X-rays to early-stage rectal cancers, BRIGHT is funding the collection of valuable data on patients treated by Papillon, as well as patients receiving other colorectal treatments.

The project aims to assess the effectiveness of Papillon treatment on patient-centred outcomes, such as survival and quality of life. BRIGHT’s ambition is for this database to be used by all Papillon centres around the world.

Dr Tony Dhillon, BRIGHT Trustee, Senior Lecturer and Consultant Medical Oncologist at the RSCH, has recently obtained external funding for his research programme. BRIGHT has been proud to fund Dr Dhillon’s research salary, which has enabled him to develop world-leading cancer trials. Dr Dhillon’s clinical trials investigate:

The potential for immunotherapy to improve outcomes for bowel cancer patients.
Liver functioning following chemotherapy
How responsive certain cancers are to particular drug treatments.

The findings of these studies have the potential to change future treatments for colorectal cancer patients.

Eirini Martinou is carrying out PhD research under the supervision of Professor Karanjia and Postgraduate Director Dr Lisiane Meira at the University of Surrey. BRIGHT is contributing funding towards her work.

Eirini’s research is looking at whether certain genes called ‘HOX’ may be important in patients with colorectal cancer that has spread to the liver. HOX genes are responsible for organ development and several studies have shown that they play an important role in various types of cancers such as blood cancers and prostate cancers. Their role in colorectal cancer, especially when spread to the liver, has not been fully investigated to date.

The research explores whether HOX genes play a role in colorectal cancer initiation and progression and therefore whether they may help in the development of more targeted treatment in the future. It also considers the relationship between these genes and overall survival, for example whether patients who over express these genes have worse survival outcomes in comparison with those who express these genes at a lesser extent.

Your support can help to fund research projects like these, helping to make a real difference to bowel cancer patients.