Scientists discover reason for resistance to bowel cancer treatment
Ella Day | June 17, 2025 | News story | Research and Development | Cancer Research UK, Oncology, The Institute of Cancer Research, bowel cancer, drug resistance
Scientists funded by Cancer Research UK have demonstrated what may cause some treatments to stop working in people living with bowel cancer. The findings, published in Cancer Research, support the development of more targeted and effective ways of treating the disease.
Working at the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London, UK, researchers studied the evolution of cells in bowel cancer organoids, small lab-grown versions of human organs that mimic the behaviour of cancer cells in the body. They treated them with four different methods in different sequences over the 45-day periods.
The team demonstrated that cancer cells can develop a ‘memory’ through switching certain processes on and off, known as epigenetic changes. Cells can ‘remember’ the form and appearance they need to adopt to survive harsh conditions, allowing for them to become resistant to cancer treatment.
“Discoveries like this could help us predict how treatments might affect someone’s cancer and how it could evolve, allowing us to design more targeted treatments – whether that’s making use of current drugs, combining treatments or designing new ones,” commented Marianne Baker, research information manager at Cancer Research UK.
Cancer Research UK recently announced £5.5m funding towards the CRC-STARS research consortium, an international research team developing treatments for bowel cancer, which includes some of the researchers involved in this study.
Bowel cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death, with around 16,800 deaths in the UK every year.
Ella Day
17/6/25
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