Dame Deborah James would have been “thrilled” by the results of a new study that has found a way to stop late-stage bowel cancer cells from growing.
The late cancer campaigner and podcast host passed away in June aged 40, six years after she was diagnosed with bowel cancer.
During her final months, James founded the Bowel Babe Fund to raise money for cancer research. It has since raised more than £7.5m.
A new study by experts at the University of Edinburgh has found a way to block a gene that cancer cells need to grow, while still leaving healthy cells unaffected.
James’s friend and co-host of the You, Me and the Big C podcast, Steve Bland, said James would have been “thrilled” by the scientific breakthrough.
“It’s extraordinary what’s happening in the world of cancer and the speed at which research is moving,” Bland told The Mirror.
“The passion and drive that people have to make the lives of cancer patients better is amazing. I’m sure this is something Deb would have been thrilled about.
“Deb did so much and she was so passionate about research, but we won’t get to see the impact of the fundraising she did for decades to come.”
Dr Kevin Myrant, who led the study, said the findings could alter bowel cancer treatment in the future.
“If we can stop splicing from being hijacked, we can stop bowel cancer from growing and make it more vulnerable to treatment,” Myrant said.
He explained: “When we grew bowel cancer cells in the lab and blocked a gene which the cells need to run splicing, they stopped growing. When we blocked the same gene in normal bowel cells, they grew normally.”
Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, with around 43,000 people diagnosed every year.
It is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in the UK after lung cancer, taking around 16,500 lives annually.
Myrant added: “There is an urgent need for better treatments for bowel cancer, particularly where it is caught at a later stage. This research could open up new approaches to treating bowel cancer in the future.”
A Cancer Research UK spokesman commented: “The Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK will support causes and projects that Deborah was passionate about. These include funding clinical trials and research into personalised medicine that could result in new treatments for cancer patients.”
