Targeting young-onset bowel cancer.
UK Researchers Launch Major Study Seeking 250,000 Volunteers to Investigate Rising Bowel Cancer Rates in Young Adults
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Researchers at King’s College London and health science company ZOE are seeking 250,000 UK adults for Prospect-UK, a long-term study investigating why bowel cancer diagnoses are rising among people under 50. Participants will provide information about diet, lifestyle, health and environment, with their consented health records linked to help track diagnoses; a smaller group will also keep detailed food diaries and provide blood and stool samples. Early-onset bowel cancer has increased substantially worldwide since 1990, and the UK is among the countries with the fastest-rising rates, but the causes remain unclear; researchers hope the study will help identify contributing factors, including possible effects of diet and obesity.
Key Points
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PROSPECT-UK is part of the wider international PROSPECT initiative, funded through Cancer Grand Challenges, which aims to compare possible drivers of early-onset bowel cancer across countries and populations.
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Although early-onset cases account for about 10% of bowel cancer, the rate among under-50s is increasing by 1–2% annually; projections cited in the article suggest cases could be twice as high in 2030 as in 2010.
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Cancer Research UK figures cited by the Daily Mail put the increase in bowel cancer incidence among people aged 25–49 at 62.3% since the early 1990s, from about 8 cases per 100,000 people in 1993–95 to 13 per 100,000 in 2018–21.
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The article also highlights general risk-reduction measures, including eating more fibre, fruit, vegetables and whole foods and staying active; it says highly processed foods account for around 60% of calorie intake in the UK.
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