Glasgow teams exploring new treatment for bowel cancer
The research is looking into the role DNA plays in the development of the illness
Scientists in Glasgow are looking at a new way to catch bowel cancer, which would catch cells growing in the wrong place before they could turn into a cancerous tumour.
The Cancer Research UK (CRUK) Scotland team are examining how DNA and its biological messaging system RNA play a role in the development of bowel cancer.
DNA contains the instructions our bodies need to grow and repair themselves, but not all cells need all the information in our DNA as cells perform different functions depending on where they are in the body.
RNA is the messaging system which picks which instructions to pass on to specific cells so they know when to grow and how to develop.
"This is an exciting, emerging area of biology"
However, sometimes there is a mistake in translating the instructions which causes cells to grow in the wrong place and potentially develop into tumours.
The team, led by Professor Victoria Cowling, is examining ways to stop RNA giving the wrong information to DNA.
She said: “This is an exciting, emerging area of biology not currently being investigated.
"It has enormous potential because with many treatments, cancers learn how to get round them and this is when cancer comes back.
"However, this research focuses on a unique point in the cell when it receives its instructions from the DNA.
Around 4,000 people in Scotland diagnosed annually
"If we can find treatments which stop cancer at this stage, at its very beginnings, then it would make it difficult for the cancer to adapt and return."
According to CRUK, nearly 4,000 people are diagnosed with the cancer every year in Scotland, with around 1,800 people dying from it annually.
The team are hopeful being able to tackle bowel cancer in its early days will stop its development and spread to other parts of the body.
They have been awarded a Therapeutic Catalyst grant of £214,492 by CRUK to explore the cell messaging system.
While this research will look at bowel cancer specifically, it is hoped it could help provide insight to tackle other forms of the illness.
The team will be working with Cancer Research Horizons, an arm of CRUK, focused on finding new treatments.
Director of research at CRUK, Catherine Elliot said: “Cancer Research UK is delighted to fund this innovative approach which we hope will lead to new insights into how bowel cancer begins and grows.
"This kind of discovery research is vital in our overall aim to understand cancer from how it begins in the body to finding new and kinder treatments to tackle it."