Could this human tissue biobank find the cause of a bowel cancer surge?

With more than 1800 people under the age of 50 diagnosed with bowel cancer in Australia each year, it is the country’s deadliest cancer among people aged 25–54 years old.

Now, part of a three-year, $2.5 million research project, the alarming increase in bowel cancer among younger Australians will be investigated via a human tissue biobank being set up by the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC).

Believed to be the first biobank of its kind in the country, according to UniSC, living tissue will be donated from Sunshine Coast patients under 50 who are diagnosed with the disease.

Developed at the Sunshine Coast Health Institute by UniSC cancer biologist Dr Lochlan Fennell, researchers are seeking to find out why the disease is occurring earlier and how best to prevent and treat it.

The wider collaboration is exploring whether modern living is to blame for the surge in early-onset bowel cancer cases in Australia, UniSC said; with modern living factors including the role of increased antibiotic use, microplastics, chemicals and new lifestyle and environmental exposures.

Source: University of the Sunshine Coast

“Over the past two decades, there has been a 200% jump in the incidence of early-onset bowel cancer in Australia and we are working to identify the causes behind this trend,” Fennell said.

“We hope that analysing the tissue stored in the biobank will help us better understand how risk factors have changed over time, as well as how the disease develops and progresses.

“We will grow miniature, 3D models of cancer tumours in our laboratory to allow us to test possible new treatments,” Fennell said.

Top image source: University of the Sunshine Coast