Identification of Novel Colorectal Cancer Diagnostic Markers Through Exploration of Chromosome Interactions Accompanying Malignant Progression

Bowel cancer is the second most lethal cancer worldwide. Early diagnosis is critical to improving bowel cancer survival rates in Wales, but current detection and treatment methods are both invasive and debilitating.

Our research group focusses on understanding the mechanisms of cancer progression to identify key initiating events that could be used in new diagnostic tests and treatments. We have recently developed methods for detecting long-range interactions between different chromosomes in pre-cancerous cells. This studentship aims to explore these disease-associated chromosome contacts in bowel cancer cell lines and patient samples.

Through modelling cancer initiation in cell lines, we hope to discover abnormal chromosome associations that may precede the onset of mutations, as well as potentially disrupting the normal function and arrangement of the genome. We will investigate whether these or similar events can be detected in patient samples as definitive indicators of bowel cancer. 

The overriding objective is to define common patterns of malignancy that provide new means of recognising and treating bowel cancer in its earliest stages to significantly improve patient outcomes.