Tackling bowel cancer from all angles

Name: Flinders Foundation
Address: 3 Flinders Drive, Bedford Park, South Australia, 5042, AU
Telephone: (08) 8204 5216
Price range: $

Posted 1 Sep 2024

Research Cancer

With it estimated that 1 in 20 people will be diagnosed with bowel cancer in their lifetime – including rising rates in people under 50 - the Bowel Health Research Team at Flinders are tackling bowel cancer from all angles.

Your support is helping them. Thank you!

Flinders Foundation Seed Grant funding has helped get bowel cancer research projects up and running, enabling researchers to then go on and secure larger funding grants to progress their research even further.

“Bowel cancer is still one of the most common cancers in Australia, so our research is really focused on finding the best ways to detect and prevent it,” says Associate Professor Erin Symonds, Team Leader of the Flinders Bowel Health Service.

“I feel like we’re on the edge of making a difference, and with support of our research, we hope that we can prevent the risk for late-stage bowel cancer and stop hearing about people who are having their bowel cancer go undetected.”

The Bowel Health Research Team’s work includes:

Listening to experiences of those affected by bowel cancer to determine ways to better address the needs of young people with bowel cancer
Working to identify new bowel cancer biomarkers in blood to provide additional screening methods
Identifying bacteria associated with bowel cancer in the hopes of detecting pre-cancerous ‘polyps’ before bowel cancer develops
Determining ways to safely reduce how often people need a colonoscopy whilst maintaining adequate bowel cancer surveillance for patients
Looking into diet and lifestyle factors which can reduce bowel cancer risk
Working with the ‘SCOOP’ team carrying out surveillance on around 9,000 residents in southern Adelaide who have had, or are at an increased risk of, bowel cancer to make sure they are closely monitored for the earliest signs of bowel cancer
Assessing new screening tests to help speed up the diagnoses for patients experiencing bowel cancer symptoms
Looking at health economics and resources of managing bowel cancer along with ways to improve care for patients

Thank you for supporting bowel cancer research at Flinders.

The wide-ranging research stands to benefit people just like Renee (pictured), who at just 33 years old, was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer. A Flinders patient, and also a bowel cancer researcher herself, Renee shared her story as part of Flinders Foundation’s cancer fundraising appeal last year to raise funds for valuable research. Thank you for supporting this important cause.

No one ever suspected Renee had bowel cancer

Thank you!

Thanks to your kindness, patients and their families can receive improved care and the inspiring researchers at Flinders can continue to work tirelessly to find cures and discover effective treatments.