News

April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, a fantastic annual opportunity to raise awareness of the fourth most common cancer in the UK. Every 15 minutes someone is diagnosed with the disease, that’s nearly 43,000 people each year.

Bowel cancer is also the UK’s second biggest cancer killer, however it shouldn’t be because it’s treatable and curable especially if diagnosed early. Nearly everyone survives bowel cancer if diagnosed at the earliest stage but this drops significantly as the disease develops. Early diagnosis really does save lives.

That’s why we’re supporting Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and Bowel Cancer UK, the UK’s leading bowel cancer charity, to raise awareness of the symptoms of bowel cancer:

• Bleeding from your bottom and/or blood in your poo
• A persistent and unexplained change in bowel habit
• Unexplained weight loss
• Extreme tiredness for no obvious reason
• A pain or lump in your tummy

Most people with these symptoms don’t have bowel cancer. Other health problems can cause similar symptoms. But if you have one or more of these, or if things just don’t feel right, see your GP.

The national bowel screening programme aims to find bowel cancer early. Visit our page on screening for bowel cancer to find out more.

For more information about bowel cancer and details of how to get involved in Bowel Cancer Awareness Month visit the Bowel Cancer UK website.