We're investing in early diagnosis research
Thursday 20 February 2025
We’re excited to announce that we’re awarding grants totalling nearly half a million pounds to new research projects focusing on improving early diagnosis of bowel cancer.
The three new projects are each working on a different way to remove barriers to timely diagnosis — developing a new diagnostic test, improving bowel surveillance and better supporting people with symptoms.
The focus on early diagnosis was chosen because while bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer, the disease is treatable if caught early. Currently fewer than 40% of people are diagnosed at an early stage (stage 1 and 2) when treatment has the best chance of working, so in line with our new research strategy we wanted to fund projects that were seeking to improve these rates.
The new awards bring our total investment in research to £2.4 million since 2017. Each of the grants is worth £165,000 and will run for up to three years. They all have the potential to make a real difference to people affected by bowel cancer.
We’re also pleased that two of the three projects build on previous pilot grants, demonstrating how smaller funding awards can pave the way for larger, more impactful studies.
The three projects are:
- Professor Katie Robb and Dr Stephen McSorley at the University of Glasgow are investigating the barriers to surveillance colonoscopy faced by people in areas with more deprivation
- Dr Christina Dobson and Dr Laura Woods at Newcastle University are studying the difficulties people may face when asked to complete a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) following a visit to their GP for symptoms of possible bowel cancer
- Dr Vladimir Teif and Dr Ralf Zwacka at the University of Essex are developing a blood test to detect early-stage bowel cancer
Dr Lisa Wilde, Director of Research, Policy and Influencing said: “We’re delighted to be funding these exciting new research projects. Through their different approaches, they all have potential to accelerate a stage shift towards earlier diagnosis of bowel cancer and we look forward to following their progress.
“With our new research strategy, we’re continuing to work hard for our vision of a future where nobody dies of bowel cancer. An important part of this is ensuring more people are diagnosed at the earliest stages when the disease is easier to treat, and investing into vital bowel cancer research is one of the best ways to do this.”
- Are you interested in shaping bowel cancer research? Find out about our patient involvement opportunites
- Learn more about our research
- Find out how you can get involved and help us build a future where nobody dies of bowel cancer
