Early detection of colorectar cancer risk in IBD patients
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Measurement of colorectal cancer risk in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease through evolutionary molecular analysis
IRAS ID
249008
Contact name
Trevor Graham
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Queen Mary University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Summary of Research:
Individuals suffering from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a group of conditions characterised by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, are at a significantly increased risk of developing colon cancer. Those patients with associated primary sclerosing cholangitis display a further increased cancer risk. Consequently, IBD patients are offered enrolment into surveillance programs, aiming to detect precursor lesions in their early developmental stages where curative treatment is possible. However, these programs are costly, invasive and of limited efficacy. In consideration of this, we would like to assess whether the molecular characterisation of colitis-affected bowel tissue can improve cancer risk prediction, by comparing the molecular signatures of bowel tissue from individuals who later develop lesions, to those who do not. The aim is to be able to identify and validate molecular markers, robust in archival tissue, that stratify IBD patients according to their risk of developing IBD-associated colon cancer. Furthermore, we would also like to compare IBD-associated colorectal lesions colorectal lesions that occur in patients without IBD, also known as sporadic adenomas, to determine their evolutionary and molecular differences.Research Summary:
Our research focused on understanding how bowel cancers develop in people with inflammatory bowel disease. Our overall goal was to develop a test that can predict which people with inflammatory bowel disease are most at risk of developing bowel cancer, which would allow clinical care to be given only to high-risk people who really need it, whereas low-risk people could be spared unnecessary worry.We found that measuring changes in the DNA within cells in the lining of the bowel could predict, very accurately, which people were most of risk of developing cancer in the subsequent years. We are now trying to develop this into a test that patients throughout the NHS, and in other countries, will be able to access.
We also discovered new biology about how the bowel works, particularly about how bowel cells grow and move around different regions of the bowel during adult life. These new discoveries will help guide our future research and the research of others, and may eventually help us to design new treatments to prevent bowel cancers arising at all in people with inflammatory bowel disease.
REC name
London - Fulham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/2051
Date of REC Opinion
16 Nov 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion