UK team identifies cancer marker

Scientists from Durham University and the North East England Stem Cell Institute, (NESCI) worked with teams from The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, and the Departments of Pathology and Epidemiology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands to study bowel cancer patients.

The research discovered that the presence of a stem cell marker protein called Lamin A suggests a person in more like to develop the aggressive forms of the condition, meaning patients with the marker could receive chemotherapy as well as the usual surgery to increase their chances of survival.

We now aim to carry out more work in this area to develop a prognostic tool which we hope will eventually be for widespread use by the health services

Stefan Przyborski

Durham University

Co-author Dr Stefan Przyborski, of Durham University and NESCI, commented: "We now aim to carry out more work in this area to develop a prognostic tool which we hope will eventually be for widespread use by the health services in the treatment of bowel cancer.

Last week, researchers at the University of Sheffield announced a drug combination which they believe could halt the growth of breast cancer and revealed they will conduct further tests, in the hope it will become part of clinical practice.