Research Summaries

This will be a major advance in the understanding and treatment of bowel cancer, contributing to the development of personalised treatments of cancer based on specific assessments of genetic markers. It will open a new treatment option to many patients with bowel cancer and help to save lives.

The identification of these subsets of immune cells can be used as immune biomarkers to select MSI colorectal cancer patients who are susceptible or resistant to immunotherapy, helping to not only direct the personalisation of highly expensive immunotherapy agents, but also to help identify new approaches in immunotherapy.

Elderly patients presenting with emergency bowel problems have not been studied extensively. And yet, because the outcomes are generally poorer than younger patients or those undergoing planned surgery, this is an area desperate for improvement. It is hoped that this project, through mapping different pathways in detail, will identify areas where improvements can be made and tested to improve these outcomes.

The results may well suggest that the type of bacteria involved in causing and maintaining CD fistula are different from others. This research will allow the optimisation of the test for this purpose and detail microbiome populations in this group of patients prior to undertaking a much larger national study if significant patterns emerge.

Results will provide the evidence base required for use of non-invasive stool and urine testing to accurately identify those at risk of bowel polyps with cancerous potential. This can then be incorporated within clinical practice thereby benefiting patients through early detection and avoid unnecessary invasive tests.

Vitamin D shows great promise as a cheap and safe supplement to improve survival from bowel cancer yet no other study has looked at vitamin D supplementation around the time of bowel cancer surgery. We hope information from this study will help us design a larger study to test whether giving vitamin D supplements can improve survival following bowel cancer surgery.

If results of this study are favourable, clove oil could be a cheap, convenient and effective treatment for a common condition where existing treatments are only moderately effective. We would use the data to apply for national funding to test clove oil against other treatments in a UK multicentre study.

This work will be performed as part of the Improving Management for Patients with Advanced Colorectal Tumour (IMPACT) programme. The ultimate aim of this programme and the proposed study is to increase the number of patients with LARC and LRRC referred to appropriate referral centres and to increase the survival rate.

The RCS Advisory Group in Robotic Surgery have developed a framework for research in robotic assisted surgery. This grant application will support international PPI to determine patient and public priorities across different cultures for research in robotic surgery.

This research will identify how communication regarding stoma information is handled and allow vital feedback to clinical teams in order to improve communication around this important issue and thus improve outcomes for patients and aid in developing communication training.