A new blood test for early diagnosis of bowel cancer

Lead researchers: Dr Vladimir Teif and Dr Ralf Zwacka 

Location: University of Essex 

Grant award: £164,870 

Dr Teif, Dr Zwacka and their team are developing a new blood test to detect early stage bowel cancer. 

The challenge 

Bowel cancer is more treatable and survivable when it’s found early, but there are still too many people being diagnosed at a late stage. The test used to screen for bowel cancer – the faecal immunochemical test (FIT), or “poo test” – is considered unpleasant or embarrassing by some people, which makes them less willing to take part. 

An alternative test that uses blood could be more acceptable to people and so increase screening uptake, if one can be developed which is sensitive enough to detect bowel cancer at an early stage. 

The science behind the project 

When cells, including tumour cells, die, they release fragments of their DNA into the bloodstream. This cell-free DNA is harmless, but it offers scientists a valuable way to look for clues about what’s going on in the body. 

As cells become cancerous, their DNA sequence and organisation may change. These changes are also reflected in the cell-free DNA in the bloodstream. Dr Teif’s lab have developed a new way to analyse cell-free DNA and spot changes that are associated with cancer. They’ve previously used this method for other cancer types and now are working on bowel cancer. 

The researchers will develop a computer model to analyse cell-free DNA and make predictions about whether a person has bowel cancer, using blood samples.

What difference will this project make? 

A blood test for bowel cancer could improve uptake of the bowel screening programme, by providing a minimally-invasive alternative to FIT, which people might be more willing to do. 

The more people who take part in screening, the more bowel cancer cases can be diagnosed early when treatment is more effective. 

If the new test is more specific than FIT, it would also reduce the number of colonoscopies required, easing pressure on NHS services. 

• For more information see our announcement of the grant
• Learn more about bowel cancer screening
• Donate to help make our research possible 

"The award of an early diagnosis project grant by Bowel Cancer UK will enable us to progress our research on liquid biopsies based on cell-free DNA from bodily fluids, with the goal to improve diagnosis at early stages of the disease." - Dr Vladimir Teif