We’re proud that a pioneering study supported by 40tude was featured on the BBC earlier this year.
 
Thousands of bowel cancer samples that have been carefully stored by St. Mark’s over decades are being shared with the Institute of Cancer Research for detailed molecular analysis by a team in which the 40tude Tom Smith Research Fellow, Dr. Penelope (Pebs) Edwards, plays a key part. 
 
In what is being called the ‘Boomer Project’, these samples are being compared with newer bowel cancer examples to try to determine why this type of cancer is on the rise in younger people.
 
Speaking to the BBC, Professor Kevin Monahan, Consultant Gastroenterologist at St. Mark’s said, “Bowel cancer in people under the age of 50 is increasing worldwide... and we need to develop ways that we can prevent these cancers effectively.”
 
Professor Trevor Graham, with whom Kevin and Pebs collaborate closely, says, “Our leading idea is that there is a particular kind of E. coli that lives in the bowels of young people today that wasn’t there in the past, and using modern scientific techniques we can look at the samples in this room and test that idea.  We can also test other ideas too, it’s a real treasure trove.”  
 
To see the full story featured on BBC Breakfast click here (from 1:16:57 in this programme).

Watch BBC news story

Or see the BBC News website at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgxpv9k822o

Prof Kevin Monahan shows off an example of the St Mark's archive