Dame Deborah James died from bowel cancer aged 40 (PA Media)Professor Tim Spector will lead a team at King’s College London to investigate a surge in bowel cancer cases among young people. The team at King’s, alongside nine other global universities, will study factors contributing to early-onset bowel cancer by analysing samples from diverse populations worldwide. They will look at known risk factors such as obesity and poor diet and new risk factors including environmental and social factors. In laboratory experiments, the scientists will investigate how these factors lead to cell changes linked to early-onset bowel cancer. Dame Deborah James died in June 2022 at the age of 40 after suffering from early onset bowel cancer.
