More than a third of UK adults are not able to identify symptoms of bowel cancer, according to new research.
A YouGov survey conducted ahead of bowel cancer awareness month in April shows that 35% of people didn’t know what the symptoms were.
Just over a fifth (22%) of people mentioned changes to bowel habits, while only 12% of people recognised bleeding from the bottom, and less than half (47%) of those asked mentioned blood in poo as a symptom.
Bowel cancer is the UK’s second deadliest form of cancer, after lung. It claims 16,800 lives a year, according to Cancer Research UK.
Bonnie Brimstone was in her mid-forties when she was diagnosed with stage two bowel cancer.
“It was a huge shock, but I did know there was something not quite right,” she told Sky News.
“I started going to the toilet more regularly, was looser than normal. I knew that wasn’t normal for me. I lost a bit of weight – half a stone – quite quickly. And eventually I saw blood in the toilet. That’s when I knew there was something seriously wrong.
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“Each symptom – being tired, weight loss, going to the toilet more regularly – you can sort of explain away as something else,” she said.
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In her case, Bonnie feels awareness of symptoms was “everything” but admits she didn’t feel comfortable talking about them at first, despite being a “very open” person.
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Stigma about symptoms is a problem that experts say is common when it comes to bowel cancer, the fourth most common type of cancer in the UK.
“People do feel a bit embarrassed talking about poo and blood or bleeding from your bottom,” said Genevieve Edwards, chief executive of Bowel Cancer UK.
“But unless we do feel comfortable… cancer stays in the shadows and that’s when it’s most deadly,” she told Sky News.
“If you’re diagnosed at stage one, more than nine in 10 people will survive that. It’s very survivable.
“If you’re diagnosed at stage four, that plummets to less than one in 10. So it’s really important,” she said.
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Bowel Cancer UK says that less than 40% of people are diagnosed in the early stages of cancer, stages one and two.
Almost half are diagnosed in the later stages, three and four.
