Spot bowel cancer early

Watch our video to find out more about the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer, and why spotting bowel cancer early is important.

At the bottom of the page, you can see the full-length video.

View a transcript of the full Spot bowel cancer early video.

Look out for:

bleeding from the back passage without a reason
a persistent change in your bowel habit towards looser or more frequent bowel motions
bloating, swelling, pain or an unexplained lump in the tummy
tiredness or looking pale

If you have any of these symptoms for more than 3 or so weeks, you should make an appointment to see your GP. Most of these symptoms won’t be due to bowel cancer but it’s better to be on the safe side.

If they are signs of bowel cancer, the earlier they are picked up, the greater the chance of successful treatment. If you notice any of these symptoms, get them checked out.

For help registering with a GP, visit www.nhs.uk or call 0845 46 47.

nirmaladesilva

“"Go to the doctor's on time. If you have any cause for concern, anything to do with your bowel or bottom, don't be embarrassed about it but have it checked out". ”

Nirmala De Silva, bowel cancer survivor

Stephanie Moore approved photo

“"Bowel cancer is a very curable and treatable disease if caught early. I would urge people, if offered bowel cancer screening, to take advantage of it".”

Stephanie Moore, Bobby Moore Fund

Julietta Patnick, Director of NHS Cancer Screening, explains, “The NHS bowel cancer screening programme is a new service for men and women in their sixties. Very soon, it will be offered to people up to their 75th birthday.

“We send you a kit called the Faecal Occult Blood test (FOBT), which is a kit that finds traces of blood that you can’t see in poo samples. We ask people to sample their faeces on a card that we send them, and then we develop it in a laboratory. If there’s a little bit of blood that can’t be seen, the chemicals will bring it out.”

Dave Phillips cycling

“"My message to people that have the screening test come through their door, is make sure you do it. I’m still here to be able to do the things I enjoy doing. If I hadn’t done the screening I don’t know where I would have been, so just do it".”

Dave Phillips, bowel cancer survivor

There’s a lot that you can do to reduce your risk of developing bowel cancer in the first place, including:

keeping a healthy weight
being physically active
eating a healthy diet high in fibre, fruit and vegetables and low in red and processed meat.
drinking less alcohol
stopping smoking