Welsh scientists awarded funding for earlier bowel cancer screening

Cancer Research UK has awarded more than £500,000 to scientists in Wales to develop a new test which aims to detect bowel cancer at an early stage.

Prof Paul Dyson at Swansea University, Dr Lee Parry at Cardiff University and Dr Sunil Dolwani at Bowel Screening Wales are looking at how a strain of Salmonella could be used to detect the exact location of bowel polyps.

The polyps can develop into bowel cancer over time, if left untreated.

Currently, everyone who is registered with a GP - between the ages of 60 and 74 - can be screened for bowel cancer.

Richard Sugarman, 47, from Penarth, was diagnosed with bowel cancer at 36 years old.

It took more than a year for his diagnosis.

The father-of-one had been experiencing severe stomach pains, weight loss and blood loss.

Richard had surgery to remove the tumour and has now been cancer free for more than 10 years.

He welcomes the new research, "Research is what gives me, my family and my friends the hope we need."

More than 9 in 10 people with bowel cancer will survive it for five years or more if it is diagnosed at its earliest stage.