WP1: The Microbiome in colorectal cancer risk
We are analyzing the microbiome of 3000 bowel tumors, to determine the relationship between the bacteria within tumors and their mutations. We have analyzed the microbiome of over 2288 bowel cancer screening samples. Our results suggest that the microbiome can improve screening accuracy. We are now successfully collecting samples from Chile, Argentina, India, and Vietnam and have demonstrated that transportation does not adversely affect it. We have found commonality of the bacteria in the microbiome of people with bowel tumors irrespective of country of origin. We are recruiting 500 individuals with hereditary colon cancer to collect stool and general information about risk factors. We are conducting a study of 2500 patients currently undergoing a screening colonoscopy to define the relationship between mucosal bacteria and fecal bacteria. We have a variety of mouse models to test the effect of specific bacteria or communities of bacteria on the formation of colon tumors.
Work Package Leaders
Philip Quirke, BM, PhD, FRCPath, FRCSEd (ad hominem), FFPath (Hon), RCPI, FMedSci
Co-Investigator, University of Leeds
- Yorkshire Cancer Research Centenary Professor of Pathology
- Honorary Consultant Histopathologist, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, UK
Cynthia Sears, MD
Co-Investigator, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health
Professor of Medicine, Oncology, and Molecular Microbiology & Immunology
John Barnes
Patient Advocate
I am a bowel cancer survivor. In 2000, I was diagnosed with a Dukes stage 2 bowel cancer in transverse colon following an emergency presentation with a rectal haemorrhage.
