Bowel cancer Symptoms
|
Signs of bowel cancer are not usually present in the early stages of bowel cancer. This results in delayed diagnosis and can present to late on in the conditions course with symptoms of a bowel obstruction.
The symptoms of bowel cancer can be diverse and include non-specific symptoms such as tiredness. If you are going off your food (known as anorexia), develop iron deficiency anaemia, start loosing weight, have a change in your bowel habit such as new onset of diarrhea or constipation, develop mucus (a salivary type substance from the back passage), wind or bloating symptoms and bleeding then these all need investigating further.
The problem with all these signs of bowel cancer is they're not exclusive to cancer. They are common to a lot of other bowel conditions including Irritable Bowel Syndrome (although there is NO increased bowel cancer risk with this condition) and inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and crohn’s disease - both increase bowel cancer risk).Who Develops Bowel Cancer Symptoms?
Anyone can develop bowel cancer and this is why it is such a common cancer. However, certain people are at increase and I will outline these for you.
Bowel cancer is most common in people over the age of 50 years (90% of cases) and 8 out of 10 are over the age of 60 years. It is slightly more common in men (1 in 18) in comparison to women (1:20).
Whilst unusual, young people can develop the bowel cancer mainly due to genetic or inheritance reasons. The two main conditions are:
1) Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), a condition that usually occurs in people under the age of 40 years and is characterised by multiple polyps in the colon (often in the 1000’s).
2) Hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer (HNPCC) which normally develops in people under the age of 50.
2)
These 2 conditions are distinguished by family history. In adopted sufferers there family history is usually unknown making early detection unlikely.
What Causes Bowel Cancer And What Are The Risk Factors For Bowel Cancer?
There are many causes of bowel cancer. These include:
1) Age – as outlined
2) FH – as outlined
3) Obesity – poor diet and lack of exercise
4) Alcohol
5) Smoking
6) Exposure to radiation
7) Other conditions that increase risk, e.g. ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, Sclerosing Cholangitis.
What Conditions Can Mimic Bowel Cancer Symptoms?
Many conditions may mimic the early symptoms of bowel cancer and these may include:
Hemorrhoids
Anal fissure – tear in the anus
IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome)
Inflammatory bowel disease
Ischaemic colitis (poor blood supply to the gut)
Diarrheal illnesses e.g. infections and small bowel diseases.
How can Bowel Cancer be prevented?
Bowel cancer survivability depends on many different factors. Most bowel cancers develop from polyps or adenomas. These are ‘cherry-like’ protuberances in the bowel which change into pre-cancer polyps or ‘dysplastic polyps’ and then cancer as they grow. These polyps can cause bleeding or produce bowel mucus in some. These bowel cancer symptoms are not always present however. An example of a polyp can be seen here:
These polyps can be removed quite easily by snaring or hot biopsy. To do this a colonoscopy is performed (flexible camera test to look into the large bowel). Here is a picture of a polypectomy or polyp removal by snare technique:
Bowel cancer screening may increase cancer survival. Screening programs are targeting people at increased risk, particularly over the age of 50 with investigations such as fecal occult blood testing (testing the stool for blood) rather than leaving it until an individual is suffering bowel cancer symptoms. The use of a Colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy and x-ray tests such as CT colonography have been employed to detect them. Targeting those with known risks such as inflammatory bowel disease and family history are also very important.
Treatment For Bowel Cancer Symptoms?
The main treatment for bowel cancer is surgery. Depending on the stage of disease, other treatments such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy maybe required too.
Disease staging is based on the degree of spread of tumour. It is classified according to the TNM or Tumor, Node, Metastasis classification. This staging system provides you with a statistical chance of survival and I have outlined this below for you:
Stage 1 - 93% 5 year survival
Stage 2a - 85% 5 year survival
Stage 2b - 72% 5 year survival
Stage 3a - 83% 5 year survival
Stage 3b - 64% 5 year survival
Stage 3c - 44% 5 year survival
Stage 4 - 8% 5 year survival
Preventing Bowel Cancer And Bowel Cancer Symptoms?
You can lower your risk by changing your lifestyle (stop smoking, reduce alcohol consumption, improve your diet and take regular exercise). If you develop bowel cancer symptoms, you should seek medical advice as soon as possible. I have listed the symptoms again for your convenience:
Signs of Bowel cancer:
1) Tiredness
2) Off food (anorexia)
3) Weight loss
4) Change in bowel habit (diarrhea, constipation, bleeding, bloating, wind).
In summary, bowel cancer symptoms in the early stages will allow early diagnosis, increase bowel cancer survival and reduce deaths due to this very common cancer, particularly in conjunction with bowel cancer screening and surveillance.
Other Pages On This Site That May Interest You
Colonoscopy To Detect Bowel Cancer
A colonoscopy will help to detect polyps and is used in the investigation of bowel cancer symptoms, as well as other bowel diseases. The flexible camera test of the large bowel or colon is explained in more detail by going to the colonoscopy
Investigation of Bowel Cancer With CT Colonography
CT or computer tomography is a special x-ray test to investigate bowel cancer symptoms. It is a good way of picking up polyps or tumours as well as other bowel conditions. Just go to CT colonography page to find out more now!
Barium Enema To Detect Polyps and Bowel Cancer
A barium enema is a specialist x-ray test to look in to your large bowel when symptoms of bowel cancer are present. It involves passing a milky x-ray dye or barium in to the large bowel and then taking x-rays to look for strictures or narrowings caused by tumours, polyps and other conditions. Learn more by going to the barium enema page now!
Go To The Homepage
Like Elad, I Built IBS Help Online With SBI, Take A Look
Peter Thatcher
Follow Me
Follow Me On:
Site Search
My New eBook
Its here, the answer to all your questions. Learn strategies to relieve your pain and change the way you think about your Irritable Bowel Syndrome today.
Find Out More By Clicking Here
Welcome! I'm Dr Peter Thatcher
Hi, I'm Peter Thatcher, a Medical Physician and Gastroenterologist in the UK. Welcome to my website. I'm here to give you helpful and comprehensive advice on everything to do with your Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I'm also your personal online physician. If you have any medical problems you would like help with, you can book an appointment online with me. To find out more click on my image or go to the
Dr Peter Thatcher about me page
. If you would like to book an appointment with me for an online consultation or telephone appointment, please go to the
about Dr Peter Thatchers online doctor service
page! |
Keep Up To Date With The Online Newsletter
Spread The Word, Download A Free Flyer!
