In some rich countries in Europe, lots of people get a disease called colorectal cancer.
It’s a problem because even though there are ways to check for this cancer early, the disease is still common. Everyone is usually checked at the same age.
But what if there was a way to know who might get this cancer sooner, so they could be checked earlier?
The Clever Scientists in Finland
A group of scientists from Finland have an idea. They think they can use information from our genes (the stuff that makes us who we are) to find out who might get colorectal cancer.
This would help doctors check these people earlier and hopefully find the cancer before it gets too serious.
One scientist, Max Tamlander, is leading this research. He works at a place called the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland.
He and his team made something called a “polygenic risk score” (let’s call it a PRS) for colorectal cancer.
What’s a PRS?
A PRS is like a test score for diseases. It uses information from our genes to predict if we might get a certain disease.
For example, a PRS for colorectal cancer can tell if someone has a high chance of getting this cancer.
How Did They Do It?
To make this PRS, they used data from over 400,000 people in Finland. They used all this information to work out each person’s risk of getting colorectal cancer.
Dr. Tamlander said this was better than previous studies, which used fewer people and might not give the right answer for everyone.
Why is a PRS Useful?
Colorectal cancer often happens to people who have no family history of it and no other big risk factors. This PRS could give these people a heads up if they have a high risk.
The scientists also found that this PRS can help decide when someone should get their next colonoscopy. This is a test doctors use to look for signs of cancer.
How Can It Change Things?
In Finland, people usually start getting checked for colorectal cancer when they turn 60.
But the scientists found out that, with this PRS, some people could start getting checked up to 16 years earlier. That’s a lot sooner than waiting until they’re 60!
What About the Future?
As it gets cheaper to check our genes, PRSs might become more common.
More and more people are getting their genes checked and stored in something called a biobank. This can help calculate PRSs for lots of diseases, not just colorectal cancer.
But there’s still more work to do. PRSs need to be checked in more studies, and it needs to be affordable.
Plus, it’s important that people understand what their PRS means. Right now, most PRSs are made for people of European descent, so they may not work for everyone.
Dr. Tamlander says that in the future, this PRS could help make personalized plans for checking for colorectal cancer. This would consider each person’s genetic risk and other factors.
This could make screening for colorectal cancer even more effective. Professor Alexandre Reymond, who is in charge of the conference, agrees that knowing who is at risk can help healthcare become more personalized.
If you care about cancer, please read studies that a low-carb diet could increase overall cancer risk, and vitamin D supplements strongly reduce cancer death.
For more information about nutrition, please see recent studies that olive oil may help you live longer, and results showing widely used dietary supplement causes cancer risk and spread.
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