Bowel cancer kills thousands every year, yet 90 per cent of cases could be treated successfully. Reporter MATTHEW JENKIN discovers why so few cases are caught in time.

BOWEL cancer kills 50 out of a 100 people diagnosed with the disease every day in the UK, but if caught early many cases can be treated quickly and successfully.

According to charity Beating Bowel Cancer, a lack of public awareness of the disease, fuelled by squeemishness and embarrassment, has led to many people leaving it too late before having a check-up.

Blackheath Hospital, in Lee Terrace, Blackheath, supported the charity’s bowel cancer awareness campaign this week and hopes people will get over their shyness.

Rita Thompson, of Johnsons Way, Greenhithe, was treated for breast cancer seven years ago and feared the worst when she started to have sharp pains in her stomach and a loss of appetite last August.

The 52-year-old funeral arranger said: “It’s a worry all the time that the cancer can come back, so I went to my GP and he thought I had an ulcer.

“Just to be safe I went to Blackheath Hospital for a consultation.

“My mum had bowel trouble and for that reason I had a colonoscopy and they found a growth which was blocking part of the bowel.

“It had to be removed by surgery in December and they ended up removing a foot and a half of my bowel.”

Mrs Thompson says if the growth had been left another year it may have developed into cancer.

She said: “Cancer is a death sentence and when this came about I had a bad feeling.

“I was upset and shed some tears but you just have to get on with it.”

Bowel cancer can affect people of any age but the majority of patients are over 50.

The most common symptoms are a persistent change in bowel habits, particularly if you are going more often and are looser than usual.

All rectal bleeding should be checked out, even if you think it is only piles.

If you have severe abdominal pain and sudden tiredness or weight loss then these should also be checked out by your GP.

Mrs Thompson says the surgery was a success, but still has to have a yearly check-up. She urges anyone worried about the disease to go to their GP.

According to Dr Helen Fidler, Consultant Gastroenterologist and bowel specialist at Blackheath Hospital, many people die from the disease because it is caught too late.

She said: “The cancer sometimes doesn’t show any symptoms until it’s incurable.

“But when it does give symptoms, people don’t take any notice of it or they’re just too embarrassed.

“If we pick it up early it can be cured and is pretty easy to treat.

“If you have any symptoms, come forward and don’t be embarrassed.”

According to Dr Fidler, there is often no obvious cause for bowel cancer.

But maintaining a healthy diet with plenty of fibre and regular exercise can lower the chance of getting bowel cancer by 50 per cent.

For more information on bowel cancer, visit beatingbowelcancer.org