In January, Elise Stapleton underwent a routine surgery to treat endometriosis, which she had suffered for years.

During the procedure, doctors made an alarming discovery: the 36-year-old Melbourne woman had a 2.2-centimetre tumour in her bowel.

Doctors made the decision there and then to remove what they could of the cancerous growth.

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Stapleton said she was in "complete and utter shock" when she awoke after surgery to be told had bowel cancer.

"I did not suspect any type of bowel cancer, I thought I'm far too young," Stapleton told 9news.com.au

"I just thought this is endo, it has to be and bowel cancer did not cross my mind."

Stapleton is sharing her story in support of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, which has just made a world-first discovery.

Over the past five years, a team led by Dr Lisa Mielke and PhD candidate Marina Yakou have been examining immune cells – known scientifically as gamma delta T cells – in the large bowel.

More specifically, Mielke said, they were investigating the interaction between the microbiome or bacteria in the gut and immune cells.

"So we have looked at bowel cancer tumour samples," Mielke said.

"We found that the abundance of these immune cells was correlated with better patient outcomes and better survival."

But then they made an unexpected and novel discovery.

They isolated a gene on the immune cells dubbed TCF-1, which appeared to be suppressing the killer instinct of the immune cells.

"So these (immune cells) are killer T cells, so they should be able to recognise and kill tumours," Yakou told 9news.com.au

"However that gene (TCF-1) had acted like a break on the immune cells to really suppress their function and their ability to defend against cancer."

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In the lab, the team "disabled" the gene.

This in turn reactivated the immune cells to recognise bowel cancer and essentially "go in for the kill".

"So when we deleted TCF-1 … we saw these amazing and really incredible killing properties that came out of immune cells," Yakou said.

"So we saw a remarkable reduction in tumours as a result of that."

The discovery has been published to in the prestigious journal, Science Immunology.

And while they have made a "molecular" finding, Mielke said it was a big step towards the development of more targeted bowel cancer interventions.

"We now think we can target the immune (gamma delta T) cells within the large bowel, and develop new drugs for them specifically," she said.

"So that we can enhance treatment options for bowel cancer patients in the future."

Those treatments are urgently needed considering the rise of the disease, particularly among younger Australians.

Bowel cancer rates in younger people have been rising since the 1980s.

In fact, there has been a more than 250 per cent increase in incidence among those under age 50 over the past three decades.

Stapleton and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute want to raise awareness that bowel cancer is not just an "older person's disease".

"Honestly just trust your gut," she said.

"If there is anything that seems off about your body and you are uncertain, just go to your GP and back yourself.

"Because it is so important that if you are having any bowel cancer symptoms that you are being screened correctly."

A teenager who died in a car crash on Sydney's Northern Beaches has been identified as five others remain in hospital.

16-year-old Cohen Griggs-Bufton was killed after the ute he was in slammed into a tree in Bayview at 12.20am.

Officers found six injured boys when they arrived at Cabbage Tree Road.

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Four of the boys, aged 17 and 16, were sitting in the back seat of the car when it collided with the tree, NSW Police confirmed.

Griggs-Bufton was sitting in the passenger seat.

"The 17-year-old red P-plate driver was airlifted to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital," NSW Police said in a statement.

A second passenger was airlifted to hospital and four others were taken to the Royal North Shore Hospital by paramedics.

The teens injuries range from minor to severe, with police now investigating if drugs or alcohol were involved in the incident. 

The crash investigation unit is making inquiries.

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Despite flooding rains across parts of southeastern Australia this week, there are worrying signs that large parts of the nation are edging towards drought.

The Bureau of Meteorology this week issued its latest drought statement, which showed that areas of rainfall deficiency have developed in parts of all states and territories in the five months from September to May 2023.

You can see the rainfall deficiency areas marked in various shades of red on the map below – the darker the shade, the worse the deficiency.

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While large parts of the nation are unaffected (the white areas), many of the severe deficiencies are in key food-growing areas, which is a concern for everyone from farmers to customers at the supermarket checkout.

Another worrying pattern in the map is that deficiencies exist in the immediate vicinity of almost all state or territory capitals, which means water storage reservoirs may soon feel the pinch.

"Storage levels remain low in some parts of southern and central Queensland, south-eastern parts of New South Wales, central Tasmania, and urban areas of Perth," the BoM said in its statement.

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The map above shows the amount of rain that fell in the week up until 9am Saturday.

As you'd expect, there was very heavy rainfall (the dark green, blue and purple blobs) in the flood-affected areas of in Victoria and southern NSW.

But only moderate amounts of rain fell in most of the long-term rain-deficient areas visible in the first map, meaning that this week's event has done little to prevent drought developing further afield as spring turns to summer.

The BoM said in its drought statement that below median rainfall is "likely to very likely" for much of western, northern and southern Australia for November 2023 through to January 2024.

Only small areas of northern New South Wales have a slightly increased chance of above median rainfall in that period, the BoM said.

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A Brisbane man who was attempting to become the youngest person to row across the Pacific Ocean has been rescued near Vanuatu.

Tom Robinson was rescued by a P&O cruise ship, who took a detour from their usual route to pick him up, after his boat capsized when he was rowing from Peru to Australia.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority told the 24-year-old's dad his EPIRB had been activated about 7am on Thursday.

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A blog post on Robinson's website said he was spotted by a French plane in the dark that took off from Noumea to find him about 100 nautical miles from Luganville.

Subsequently, he was able to be picked up by the cruise ship.

Robinson was naked when he was picked up and climbed up a rope ladder to reach the deck of the ship.

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"Soon after, and some 13 hours since his EPIRB was activated, he rang his family at home," the post to his website said.

"He was being checked in the sick bay, and sounded well after a precarious night."

Robinson told his family an unexpectedly large wave came through the main hatch and flooded the cabin, causing his boat to capsize.

"Our sincere thanks go to the Australian, New Caledonian and Vanuatuan authorities who all had important roles to play in his rescue; and to the captain and crew of Pacific Explorer who literally went out of their way to pick up Tom."