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About Bowel Cancer

What does the bowel do?

The bowel is part of our digestive system and is divided into the small and large bowel. The large bowel is made up of the colon and rectum.

Food passes from the stomach to the small bowel. After the small bowel takes nutrients into the body, any undigested food passes through the large bowel, where water is removed from the waste matter. This waste matter is held in the rectum (back passage) until it leaves the body as bowel motions (also known as stools or faeces).

What is bowel cancer?

Bowel cancer is also known as colon, rectal or colorectal cancer. The lining of the bowel is made of cells that are constantly being renewed. Sometimes these cells grow too quickly, forming a clump of cells known as a bowel polyp (sometimes known as an adenoma). Polyps are not bowel cancers (they are usually benign), but they can change into a malignant cancer over a number of years. A malignant cancer is when cancer cells have the ability to spread beyond the original site and into other parts of the body.

The Symptoms of Bowel Cancer

The most common symptoms of bowel cancer to look out for are:

• a persistent change in bowel habit, especially going to the toilet more often or diarrhoea for several weeks;
  
  
• bleeding from the back passage without any obvious reason;
  
  
• abdominal pain, especially if it is severe; and
  
  
• a lump in your abdomen.

Please remember that these symptoms do not necessarily mean that you have bowel cancer, but if you have one or more of these symptoms for four to six weeks, you should see your GP.

Who is at risk of developing bowel cancer?

Both men and women are at risk of developing bowel cancer.

Your risk of developing bowel cancer increases with age. Eight out 10 people who are diagnosed with bowel cancer are over 60.

People with a family history of bowel cancer have an increased risk of developing the disease.

People who take little exercise, people who are overweight, and people who have a diet high in red meat and low in vegetables, fruits and fibre are all thought to have an increased risk of developing bowel cancer.

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