A study report published in Nature Genetics (Sunday Edition) has affirmed that British Scientists have detected two genes that could triple the chance of developing bowel cancer.

According to the report, the risk of bowel cancer is small, when only these two genes are present, but if both these and two other high-risk genetic variants identified earlier are present, a person might have a two- to three-fold increased risk of the cancer.

Bowel cancer, also called colorectal cancer, is the cancer of the colon or rectum. It arises from the cells that line the bowel. It is the third most common form of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world.

Four year ago, a study funded by Cancer Research UK found a part of the genome which is responsible for causing Hereditary Mixed Polyposis Syndrome (HMPS) - a condition which significantly increases bowel cancer risk.

The researchers found the two rascal genes, which have not been given names, after analyzing the genomes of nearly 15,000 people, including nearly 8,000 bowel cancer cases.

The study was jointly led by Professor Ian Tomlinson from the London Research Institute and Professor Richard Houlston from The Institute of Cancer Research.

Professor Ian Tomlinson, joint lead researcher based at Cancer Research UK's London Research Institute, said, “Increasing our understanding of genes like this may make it possible for scientists to eventually develop ways of stopping many people at increased risk of bowel cancer from developing the disease altogether.”

Dr. Lesley Walker, Cancer Research UK’s director of cancer information told that discoveries like this will improve our understanding of cancer and help us to develop targeted screening and treatment for people at increased risk of the disease.

The researchers believe that up to a third of all bowel cancer cases may be associated with these newly identified genetic variants.