London Researchers Use Decades-Old Cancer Samples to Investigate Early-Onset Bowel Cancer

London Researchers Use Decades-Old Cancer Samples to Investigate Early-Onset Bowel Cancer

(IN BRIEF) Researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research and St Mark’s Hospital are launching a major study analysing historic bowel cancer samples dating back more than 70 years to understand why diagnoses are rising in people under 50. By comparing old and modern tumour DNA, the project aims to uncover how long-term changes in lifestyle and environmental exposure may be driving early-onset bowel cancer, potentially shaping future prevention and treatment strategies.

(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, 8-Jan-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — Researchers in London are turning to decades-old tumour samples in a bid to understand why bowel cancer is increasingly affecting people under the age of 50, a trend that continues to concern clinicians and public health experts worldwide.

Scientists from The Institute of Cancer Research and St Mark’s Hospital have launched a major new research initiative that will analyse bowel cancer specimens collected as far back as the mid-20th century and compare them with modern-day tumours. Many of these historic samples have been preserved for more than 70 years in one of the UK’s oldest pathology archives.

The study aims to explore whether long-term changes in diet, lifestyle and environmental exposures — collectively referred to as the exposome — may be contributing to the sharp rise in early-onset bowel cancer. While screening programmes have helped reduce diagnoses among older adults, cases in younger people continue to rise and are projected to double between 2010 and 2030.

Investigating aggressive cancers in younger patients

Evidence suggests that bowel cancers diagnosed in younger adults are often detected at a later stage and may behave more aggressively than those found in older patients. Despite advances in treatment, outcomes for these patients are frequently worse, highlighting an urgent need to understand the underlying causes.

Although theories have ranged from dietary changes and sedentary lifestyles to exposure to pollutants such as microplastics or alterations in the gut microbiome, research has yet to pinpoint why bowel cancer risk is increasing among younger populations.

A unique archive spanning generations

Known as the Boomers Project, the study will draw on preserved tumour specimens held at St Mark’s Hospital, some dating back to the early 1900s. Preliminary work has shown that these samples remain sufficiently intact for advanced molecular and genomic analysis, offering a rare opportunity to track how bowel cancer biology has evolved across generations.

Using high-resolution genome sequencing techniques — including novel methods developed at the Institute of Cancer Research — scientists will examine how DNA damage patterns differ between cancers from the 1950s and 1960s and those diagnosed today. Because different environmental exposures leave distinct molecular “fingerprints” on DNA, the comparison may reveal how changes in modern life have altered cancer risk.

Informing prevention and future care

If successful, the research could provide critical insights into the drivers of early-onset bowel cancer and lay the groundwork for larger studies. Ultimately, the findings may inform new strategies for prevention, earlier diagnosis and improved treatment tailored specifically to younger patients.

Professor Trevor Graham, Director of the Centre for Evolution and Cancer at the Institute of Cancer Research, said the way people live today differs profoundly from life in the 1960s, and these differences may be shaping cancer risk in ways that are only now becoming apparent.

Project co-lead Professor Kevin Monahan, a gastroenterologist at St Mark’s Hospital, added that understanding whether one dominant factor or a combination of influences is responsible could transform approaches to prevention for younger people.

Alongside laboratory research, clinicians continue to stress the importance of awareness. Maintaining a healthy diet, staying physically active, and seeking medical advice for symptoms such as rectal bleeding or persistent changes in bowel habits remain essential steps in reducing bowel cancer risk.

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SOURCE: The Institute of Cancer Research