Scientists in Glasgow conducting a pioneering cancer study have been awarded funding of £1.8m.

Researchers at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute in Bearsden will receive the sum over the next five years as part of a £19m investment in a global project to investigate why some cancers are specific to certain tissues.

The team fought off international competition to secure the funding in the charity's Grand Challenge awards.

Professor Owen Sansom, director of the Institute, said: "My team have been trying to understand for a number of years why mutations in a gene called APC are really common in bowel cancer.

"With this funding we will try to uncover why we only see the APC mutation in bowel cancer; why not breast cancer or skin cancer?

"If we can work out the reason this gene mutation doesn't cause cancer in these other organs, then our hope is we might be able to find a way to make the bowel resistant to the APC mutation and prevent cancer from developing."

Dr Victoria Steven, Cancer Research UK spokeswoman for Scotland, said: "Grand Challenge gives us the perfect opportunity to address complex questions and cross new frontiers in our understanding of cancer, to transform the lives of patients.

"People in Scotland have every right to feel proud of the world-class research taking place on their doorstep and of their fundraising efforts, which are helping to beat cancer."