April 2009
Each year, about 36,500 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer – equal to 100 people every day. It is the second most common cancer in women and the third most common cancer amongst men . This month is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and Spire Methley Park hospital is raising awareness of this disease, which can often present with minimal symptoms.
Bowel, or colorectal, cancer can take between five and ten years to develop and can be found anywhere in the bowel or rectum. Most bowel cancers begin as polyps or small growths. These are non-cancerous and can generally be easily removed. However, depending on how long they are left they can become cancerous. Often, bowel cancer can spread to other parts of the body, including the liver. Eight out of ten cases of bowel cancer are diagnosed in people over 60 .
Less than one case of bowel cancer in a hundred is diagnosed in people aged under 40. Mr Mark Rogers, Consultant Surgeon at Spire Methley Park hospital comments: “Early identification is the key. The symptoms of bowel cancer can easily be mistaken for other conditions such as haemorrhoids or simple diarrhoea. Unfortunately, because these tumours are often diagnosed late in their development, meaning that surgery and chemotherapy are often the only available treatment options. If there is anything out of the ordinary, it is much better to be safe than sorry and visit your GP.” Top tips for spotting the symptoms of bowel cancer:
- A change in your normal bowel habit lasting four weeks or more, especially if this is new diarrhoea. That is to say, more frequent and more liquid stools
- Bleeding from the bottom especially if this is persistent
- Extreme tiredness, anaemia, without obvious cause
- A lump in your abdomen
For more information on bowel cancer, please visit www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk or call the bowel cancer advisory service on 0800 8 40 35 40.