New bowel cancer sub-type identified

A dangerous new form of bowel cancer has been identified by scientists from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, in association with Dutch colleagues.

The new sub-type was discovered following analysis of tumours from 90 separate patients with stage II colon cancer and has been shown to be associated with worse outcomes than other forms of the disease.

Moreover, this variant was also demonstrated to be more aggressive and resistant to the targeted therapy cetuximab, as it develops in a different way from previously-recognised bowel cancer types.

Kate Law, Cancer Research UK's director of clinical research, said: "Studies like this one are essential for uncovering the basic building blocks of cancer, allowing us to adopt a more personalised approach to curing cancer and develop better treatments sooner."

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, according to Cancer Research UK data, accounting for 13 percent of all new cases and being more prevalent among men than women.