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Survey Reveals Low Level of Bowel Cancer Awareness in UK

www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk

1 April 2011

To mark April’s Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, Bowel Cancer UK today announced the results of its survey, which indicates that over half of two thousand respondents could not name one single symptom of the disease. The Bowel Cancer Awareness survey also found that men are more likely to recognise bowel cancer as one of the top three cancers diagnosed in men. However, nearly 75% of female respondents did not recognise the disease as being one of the top three cancers in women.

Most of the respondents who were able to recognise a bowel cancer symptom identified bleeding or blood in the stools (poo), followed by a change in bowel habit. Encouragingly, men and women over the age of forty were more able to name one symptom of bowel cancer compared to younger respondents. The risk of bowel cancer increases with age and therefore it is important that there is greater awareness amongst an older age group.

Unsurprisingly, women recognised breast cancer as the most common cancer amongst women but they also thought they were at greater risk of being diagnosed with cervical or ovarian cancer than with bowel cancer. In fact, around 17,900 women are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year - compared to 2,830 diagnosed with cervical cancer and around 6,500 with ovarian cancer. Although 40% of women said they know someone with bowel cancer these responses suggest that women do not have a good understanding of their own risk of being diagnosed with the disease.

Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in the UK and one of the top three common cancers diagnosed in both men and women. Over 16,250 men and women in the UK die of the disease each year.

“The results of this survey highlight the shocking fact that public awareness of bowel cancer, in terms of its prevalence and its signs and symptoms, is alarmingly low,” Deborah Alsina, Chief Executive of Bowel Cancer UK, said.

“We know that unlike breast, ovarian and cervical cancers which have received significant public attention, bowel cancer has a very low profile and there continues to be a general reluctance to talk about it openly or to be associated with it in the same way as these other diseases.

“Bowel Cancer UK will continue to work hard to ensure that people are aware of the symptoms of bowel cancer so that they can act on them quickly. It is crucial for people to be symptom aware and to make an appointment with their GP if they have been experiencing symptoms for at least four weeks. This will ensure bowel cancer is ruled out first and not last. We will also endeavor to increase the profile of bowel cancer as a leading cancer concern in the UK.”

Bowel cancer is highly treatable if caught early with about 90% of patients diagnosed at the earliest stage living for at least five years. Survival falls sharply when bowel cancer is diagnosed at the later stages.