Overview
- Researchers at the Institute of Cancer Research and St Mark’s Hospital have launched the Boomers Project comparing 1950s bowel cancer specimens with contemporary tumors.
- Early tests confirm that the wax‑preserved samples stored for more than 70 years are suitable for modern molecular and genomic analysis.
- Teams will use genome sequencing, including novel methods developed at ICR, to map DNA alteration patterns across eras for clues to causation.
- The study will examine exposome influences such as diet, pollutants, sedentary lifestyles and the gut microbiome to identify distinctive molecular signatures.
- Diagnoses in younger adults have been rising and are projected to double between 2010 and 2030, with studies indicating later detection and more aggressive disease in this group.