Groundbreaking Bowel Cancer Test Is 90 Percent Accurate At Predicting Disease In Those At High Risk

A new technique to detect bowel or colon cancer is more than 90 per cent accurate at predicting which higher-risk people will develop the disease, a new study has shown. Those with digestive conditions like inflammatory bowel disease or IBD - Crohn's and ulcerative colitis—are known to have an increased chance of bowel cancer, but not all will develop it.

The research, funded by Cancer Research UK, has shown more than 90 per cent accuracy in predicting bowel cancer risk in the next five years in those with IBD. According to experts, the findings could lead to the development of a blood test that will inform doctors which IBD patients are most at risk of developing colon cancer.

"Most people with ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease would not develop bowel cancer,” said Professor Trevor Graham from the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), which co-led the research. "But for those that have these conditions and are showing signs of pre-cancer in their colon, there are some tough decisions to make,” he added.

"Either they have it monitored regularly, in the hope that it doesn't become cancer, or they have their bowel removed to guarantee they don't get cancer in the future. Neither of these options are particularly pleasant,” said Prof. Graham.

Scientists said they studied pre-cancerous cells from blood samples of 122 patients with IBD. Within five years, about half developed bowel cancer, and the researchers worked out that those whose cancerous cells had lost or gained multiple copies of their DNA were far more likely to develop bowel cancer. The scientists then created an algorithm to calculate the risk of future bowel cancer based on the pattern made by the altered DNA. “We can accurately identify those people at high risk whilst putting the minds of many others at rest,” said Prof. Graham.

IBD can irritate the lining of the bowel and can cause abnormal pre-cancerous cells to form if left untreated.

According to experts, bowel cancer, also known as colorectal cancer, starts in your large intestine—the long tube that helps carry digested food to your rectum and out of your body. It develops from certain polyps or growth in the inner lining of your colon.

If not detected well in time, the colon can spread to other areas of your body.

Your colon wall is made of layers of mucous membrane, tissue, and muscle. The cancer starts in your mucosa, the innermost lining of your colon. It consists of cells that make and release mucus and other fluids. If these cells mutate or change, they may create a colon polyp.

Over time, the colon polyps become cancerous, and if not detected or treated, the condition works its way through a layer of tissue, muscle, and the outer layer of your colon. The cancer can also spread to other parts of your body through your lymph nodes or your blood vessels.

Doctors say you can have colon cancer without having symptoms. However, a few early signs of this cancer include:

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