A SCOTTISH university and health board are breaking new ground in developing procedures to help predict the likelihood of developing cancer of the colon.

Aberdeen University and NHS Tayside are developing a new way to identify whether non-cancerous growths found in the colon, known as polyps, are likely to become cancerous tumours.

As well as helping to predict the probability that cancer will develop from polyps, this new technique will help clinicians make decisions about treatment for each patient.

Dr Janice Drew, Senior Research Fellow, of the University of Aberdeen's Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health led the research, published today, November 26, in the journal PLOS ONE.

In collaboration with the health board, Dr Drew developed the approach in response to a sizeable increase in individuals diagnosed with polyps since routine bowel screening began in Scotland in 2007.

Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cause of death from cancer. Dr Drew said: "Currently, polyp size and number are the only predictors for screened patients at risk of developing colon cancer in the future, but this is not a sensitive measure of future risk of cancer. Although visual assessment of the polyps and the degree of variation from normal colon tissue is made by trained medical staff, there is still a degree of inter-observer variation."