Human tissue collected for biobank in fight against bowel cancer in young people

Sunshine Coast researchers collect human tissue for biobank to study bowel cancer in young people Thu 30 Jul 2026 at 10:02am In short: Samples from younger bowel cancer patients will be collected for a biobank as part of research into the disease. According to Bowel Cancer Australia, recent statistics suggest bowel cancer is the deadliest form of cancer for people aged 25-54. The $2.5 million research project is funded by Cancer Australia and National Health and Medical Research Council. Sunshine Coast researchers are building a 'biobank' of human tissue, as they investigate the increase in young people being diagnosed with bowel cancer. They will collect tissue samples from patients under the age of 50 to look at whether modern living is to blame for the increase. It's part of a collaboration between Sunshine Coast University Hospital (SCUH) and the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC). UniSC cancer biologist Lochlan Fennell said they hoped to collect up to 60 samples over the next three years. "We're going to study these tissues in extreme depth to try and understand if it is a new disease compared to traditional bowel cancer and also understand if we can treat it differently to improve patient outcomes,"Dr Fennell said. "We've done really well at reducing disease in people over 50, it's gone up by about 300 per cent over the past 30 years in patients aged under 50 years of age. "This is really troubling because we don't actually know why that's occurred." Modern lifestyle impacts The $2.5 million research project will involve collecting both blood and tissue samples from patients being treated for early-onset bowel cancer at Sunshine Coast Health facilities. Dr Fennell said researchers were hopeful of making some findings by the end of the year. "Especially relating to if the disease is different to what we've seen traditionally," he said. "We'll be able to do some analysis in the laboratory to really understand whether, at a real molecular level, it's the same sort of disease — but earlier — or if it's a completely different disease." The research, funded by Cancer Australia and the National Health and Medical Research Council, will examine whether new lifestyle exposures are playing a part in the increase, including microplastics, chemicals and bacterial toxins. Increase in younger patients According to Bowel Cancer Australia, it is the country's deadliest cancer for people aged between 25 and 54. Sunshine Coast Health's acting medical director of Medical Oncology, Michael Allen, said 8-10 per cent of patients were now under the age of 40. "There's often delays in diagnoses in younger patients because there is a misconception that young people don't get cancer, and what we're seeing is far from that,"Dr Allen said. "Symptoms can be very specific like bleeding, altered bowel habits, significant constipation, weight loss, it's unexplained, abdominal discomfort or bloating." Natalie Hunter was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer at 43 and is urging young people to take symptoms seriously. "About three months before, I could see some changes in my bowel movements and didn't think anything of it because it was just over Christmas and thought I'd eaten too much or had too much to drink," she said. Ms Hunter said she had been to see several GPs about her symptoms, who "kept saying I was too young" for anything to be wrong. "Everything was OK until the tumour had blocked my bowel and then it was an emergency situation," she said. She said she was in full support of the research project and continued to raise awareness about how the disease was impacting young people and trying to remove the stigma around the disease.