Gastroenterologist, Professor Kevin Monahan, displays items from the St Mark’s archive where bowel cancer samples, some nearly 100 years old, are stored.
Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK and the second leading cause of cancer deaths. While screening programmes have helped reduce cases in older adults, young people are being diagnosed at unprecedented levels. Diagnoses of under 50s are projected to double between 2010 and 2030.
The ‘Boomers’ research programme, a collaboration between St Mark’s Hospital and the Institute of Cancer Research, is trying to figure out why. By comparing tens of thousands of archived tumor samples from St Mark’s to present day cancer cases, researchers are looking to determine whether specific environmental factors are responsible for the increase in diagnoses.
Professor Kevin Monahan, St Mark’s gastroenterologist, and Professor Trevor Graham, lead ICR researcher, appeared on BBC Breakfast, Radio 1, and in various print publications in January 2026 to discuss the project.
Read the full news articles here:
BBC: Century-old tumours could reveal why more young people are getting bowel cancer
The Independent: Tumour samples from the 1950s could reveal why more young people are getting bowel cancer
The Times: Tumour archive could solve mystery of bowel cancer surge