Scientists have discovered that bowel cancer isn’t one disease: it’s four. Each needs its own treatment approach, with different drugs and therapies being used.
Each of the four bowel cancer types has its own genetic and biological characteristics, with some being more aggressive and fast-growing than others, say scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research.
Doctors need to identify which of the four types they’re treating and prescribe the appropriate drugs and therapies, they say.
The discovery is part of an ongoing research programme that is coming to an understanding that breast cancer, prostate cancer and bowel cancer are multiple different diseases, and that there is not one specific type of breast cancer, for instance, said lead researcher Prof Paul Workman.
(Source: Nature Medicine, 2015; doi: 1038/nm.3967)
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