April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, a fantastic annual opportunity to raise awareness of bowel cancer and funds to support the work.
The earlier bowel cancer is spotted, the more treatable it's likely to be. In fact, more than 9 in 10 people survive bowel cancer when it is diagnosed at the earliest stage. However, this drops significantly when diagnosed at the latest stage.
What is Bowel Cancer?
- The bowel is part of the digestive system. It is made up of the small bowel and the large bowel. The large bowel is made up of the colon and rectum.
- Cancer that affects the large bowel is typically called bowel cancer. you may also hear it being called colorectal cancer. This means cancer in the colon or rectum. Cancer that affects the small bowel is called small bowel cancer.
Facts and figures about bowel cancer.
- How common is bowel cancer?
* Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK. Almost 43,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year in the UK.
* Around 268,000 people living in the UK today have been diagnosed with bowel cancer.
* More than nine out of ten new cases (94%) are diagnosed in people over the age of 50. But bowel cancer can affect anyone of any age. More than 2,600 new cases are diagnosed in people under the age of 50 every year.
* 1 in 15 men and 1 in 18 women will be diagnosed with bowel cancer during their lifetime.