Hi supporter , please enter your JustGiving login details below and we'll handle the rest. Complete our survey. This site is best viewed with javascript enabled. For help enabling javascript please click here. Younger people with bowel cancer Most people with bowel cancer are diagnosed when they are over the age of You can also download our free Younger people with bowel cancer booklet.
Right-sided colon lesions produce vague, abdominal aching, unlike the colicky pain seen with obstructive left-sided lesions. Patients with cancer of the rectum may present with a change in bowel movements; rectal fullness, urgency, or bleeding; and tenesmus cramping rectal pain.
Any of the below symptoms could be indicative of bowel or rectal cancer and should be investigated by your GP if they persist for more than two weeks. Bowel cancer risk is increased by smoking, eating red meat especially when charred , eating processed meats smoked, cured, salted or preserved , drinking alcohol, and being overweight or obese.
Age, family history, hereditary conditions and personal heath history can also influence bowel cancer risk. People with certain diseases and illnesses seem to be more prone to developing bowel cancer. Healthy diet and lifestyle choices, as well as screening and surveillance, can help to reduce your bowel cancer risk.
Evidence reveals quitting smoking, abstaining from or limiting alcohol consumption, and eating foods containing dietary fibre are all beneficial. Maintaining a healthy weight and engaging in regular physical activity have also been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer, but not rectal cancer. Additionally, people who are more physically active before a bowel cancer diagnosis are less likely to die from the disease than those who are less active.
Share your colonoscopy experience. Bowel Care Nurses. Order a Screening Test. Bowel Cancer. Back What is bowel cancer? Liver metastases Lung metastases Peritoneal metastases What is anal cancer? Early Detection. Back Bowel care nurses Bowel care nutritionists Peer-to-peer support network Patient resources Bowel cancer stories Bowelcancer. Get Involved. About us. Young-onset bowel cancer. Yet each year over 1, young Australians do. It is a common misconception that bowel cancer is 'an old person's disease', but the reality is that you should never be told that you are too young to have bowel cancer.
Never2Young is an initiative of Bowel Cancer Australia, providing resources uniquely designed for younger people. Helping younger Australians to better understand their bowel cancer risk and to take appropriate action, raise much-needed awareness and receive dedicated support that is tailored to the needs of young-onset patients. Being young does not make you immune to bowel cancer.
No one knows your body better than you, so listen to it and if something isn't right make an appointment to speak with your doctor as soon as possible. If caught in time, almost 99 per cent of bowel cancer cases can be successfully treated. N2Y Advocacy Agenda. Mass screening of the population for bowel cancer has now started in the UK and is currently taking the following format:.
The development of a bowel cancer from a polyp may take between five and ten years, and early on there may be no symptoms at all. The most common symptoms are bleeding from the bowel, a change in bowel habit, such as unusual episodes of diarrhoea or constipation and an increase in the amount of mucus in the stool.
A bowel cancer can enlarge causing partial or complete blockage of the bowel leading to abdominal pain, constipation and bloating. Sometimes tiny amounts of bleeding may go unnoticed but result in the development of anaemia, which may cause tiredness and a decreased ability to work and exercise.
Unexplained weight loss is also a symptom. However, a prolonged change in bowel habit lasting more than two or three months should always be investigated. If you have a family history of bowel cancer you should visit your doctor within a few weeks of any changes.
Achieving a complete cure of bowel cancer usually depends on detecting it early on and if people wait too long before reporting symptoms, the opportunity to remove the cancer completely may be lost. An early diagnosis can also be made in the absence of symptoms by the use of screening. Sometimes, the doctor will be able to detect a lump in the abdomen or on rectal examination but tests are usually needed. The most commonly used are:. Both flexible sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy have the advantage that a small sample or biopsy can be taken to look at under the microscope.
The above tests are used in slightly different situations depending upon the symptoms that patients may have and the availability of the investigations. Once all the relevant information including histology, blood test and imaging have been collated, the case will be presented at a Multi-Disciplinary Meeting MDM where a diagnosis and management plan will be discussed and agreed.
The oncologist will then explain this decision to the patient and answer any questions they may have. At this time the patient will probably be introduced to a clinical nurse specialist who is a senior nurse with expert knowledge of colorectal cancer.
The clinical nurse specialist, rather than the doctors, will usually be the first point of contact throughout the whole process. Unless the tumours are very small and can be removed by a local operation, most cancers of the rectum need to be carefully assessed usually at the MDM as above before any surgery takes place.
A cancer of the rectum very near the anal canal will be difficult to remove completely and in this situation it may be necessary to remove the rectum as well as the anus and make a permanent opening of the colon into the skin of the abdomen called a colonostomy or stoma.
Although stomas are often used when emergency surgery is needed, they may not always be permanent. Many of the planned procedures carried out for colon cancer result in a temporary stoma to allow the bowel join anastomosis to heal without any faecal matter going through that area.
Fortunately, modern surgical techniques have made the need for a stoma to be much less likely nowadays than in the past. If no further treatment is needed, patients will be followed up for a period of five years with a mixture of clinic appointments, blood tests, colonoscopies and scans. The follow up will be different if the patient has a hereditary cancer such as Lynch Syndrome. If the cancer does recur, there are still many options for a positive outcome. A healthy life-style, a diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables and a positive mental attitude together with attendance at follow up programmes seem to be the best advice.
Experts also believe that exercise has a positive impact on lowering the risk of recurrent disease. As the tumour advances, it grows through the wall of the bowel to invade nearby tissues and, via the blood and lymphatic systems can spread to other areas of the body. The most common areas for secondary bowel cancer to have spread to are the liver and the lungs and this may have already happened when the cancer is first diagnosed, or may occur at a later date.
Recently there have been many highly effective advances in the treatment of secondary cancers including targeted therapy for liver and lungs, surgery and a technique called Radio Frequency Ablation RFA.
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