The Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute has received a $60,000 donation from the Rotary Bowel Scan project which will help continue the quest to help better treat bowel cancer, which claims the lives of more than 5300 Australians each year.

The donation will also help keep highly skilled researchers in Ballarat continuing their work.

FECRI is carrying out novel research in to the mechanisms behind difficult to treat bowel cancer cases, in particular a type of immune cell related to poor prognosis bowel cancers.

"We have identified immune cells present in those poor prognosis bowel cancers that produce a protein, interleukin 13, which helps stop the good immune cells coming in," explained FECRI director Professor George Kannourakis.

"We are working out strategies how we can turn that off, to reduce the interleukin 13."

Australia has one of the highest rates of bowel cancer in the world, with around 15,325 people diagnosed with bowel cancer each year including more than 1500 aged under 50.

If caught early, there is a 98 per cent success rate for treatment.

Professor Kannourakis said while the research was promising, it was better to prevent aggressive bowel cancer in the first place and pick it up at an early stage by using a bowel screen kit which are available at pharmacies for $20.

"You don't have to wait for the government to send a bowel screening kit when you turn 50. For $20, from the pharmacy or online, if you do it once a year you're not likely to miss anything. If it turns out to be positive you catch it an an early stage ... but we are going to keep working on poor prognosis bowel cancer because it's a silent disease."

Professor Kannourakis said the funding would help keep post doctoral researchers at FECRI.

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"It will help us to achieve that goal of keeping our scientists, especially those we have trained at the institute," he said. "For example, Jason Kelly has been here the last four years training in his PhD and instead of going overseas we'll be able to attract him to stay here and continue his research in bowel cancer and immunology."

FECRI currently has eight PhD students and Professor Kannourakis is hopeful a percentage will develop their scientific careers here and stay.

"The more funding we have, the more support from community groups, philanthropic trusts and individual support, the more we can keep those people here," he said.

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