Bowel Cancer Awareness Month

April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month

Bowel cancer (also called colorectal cancer) is the fourth most common cancer in the UK and the second most common cause of cancer death. Around 42,900 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK each year. Around 268,000 people living in the UK today have been diagnosed with bowel cancer.

The screening programme identifies and removes polyps in the bowel before they develop into cancer, the earliest type of intervention. While polyps are quite common (affecting 1 in 4 people who are 50 or over) they do not usually cause symptoms.  Polyps do not usually turn into cancer but if some sorts of polyps are not removed (adenomas), there is a chance they will eventually become cancerous. 

All men and women aged 54, 56, 58 and those between 60-74 years who are registered with a GP will be automatically sent a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) kit every two years.

The test can detect invisible early signs of bowel cancer. It is very important that everyone who is sent a bowel screening kit completes it and returns it to the London Hub (laboratory).

For more information & useful resources

Read more https://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/support-us/bowel-cancer-awareness-month/