A new breakthrough in the diagnosis of bowel cancer could help doctors tailor their treatments more effectively to individual cases, it has been claimed.
Dr Rob Glynne Jones, expert advisor at Bowel Cancer UK, said the discovery of "genetic hotspots" for the development of the disease by researchers from the University of Dundee could mean patients can receive better therapies.
He commented: "This is another step in the direction of being able to be very specific about the individual's chance of responding to the treatment, and in making these expensive drugs more cost effective."
According to information published by Cancer Research UK, bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK and is the second most common cancer in women after breast cancer.
In total, 20,400 men are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK each year, making it the third most common cancer in men after prostate and lung cancer.
The organisation noted that the incidence rate of the disease has remained fairly stable over the last decade.
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