Research conducted through the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI), published in this month’s Journal of the National Cancer Institute, may improve the screening efficiency for people with a predisposition to bowel cancer.

The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Newcastle and John Hunter Hospital, identified differences in a gene, which appears to be associated with the age at which bowel cancer is likely to develop in people with a genetic predisposition to this disease.

In a study group of people with a genetic predisposition to colorectal cancer, researchers identified a repeated unit of DNA within a gene that was associated with the age of disease onset.

Patients with a repeated unit of the gene that was smaller than a certain size were found to have a greater likelihood of developing the disease at a young age compared to those persons with a larger repeat size who tended to develop disease at a much older age. 

“This finding is significant because it allows other forms of surveillance screening to be tailored to the needs of individuals,” said NBN Childhood Cancer Research Fellow Professor Rodney Scott.

In addition, the research also identified a potential greater link to the likelihood of disease in males compared with females.

Professor Scott’s co-investigators include Mr Stuart Reeves, a PhD student from the Universityof Newcastleand Dr Cliff Meldrum from the Hunter Area Pathology Service.

Each year about 3,000 people in NSW develop bowel cancer. From this population of patients approximately 150 have a genetic predisposition to develop bowel cancer. 

HMRI is a partnership between Hunter New England Health, the Universityof Newcastleand the community.

The Journal of the National Cancer Institute is one of the top cancer journals in the United States of America.