Bowel cancer

Bowel cancer is also called colorectal cancer. It affects the large bowel, which is made up of the colon and rectum.

Symptoms of bowel (colorectal) cancer can include bleeding from the back passage, blood in your poo or a change in your normal bowel habit.

The risk factors for bowel (colorectal) cancer include your age, family history, lifestyle factors and other medical conditions.

You usually start by seeing your GP and they might refer you to a specialist and organise tests. Get information on what happens, and read about screening for bowel cancer.

The stage of a cancer tells you how far it has grown through the bowel wall and whether it has spread to nearby lymph nodes or other organs. It helps your doctor to know which treatment you need.

Treatment depends on whether you have colon or rectal cancer, as well as your cancer stage. You might have surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy or a combination of these.

Survival depends on many factors including the stage of your bowel cancer when you are diagnosed and how it has responded to treatment. The figures for bowel cancer survival can only be used as a general guide.

All treatments must be fully researched before they can be adopted as standard treatment for everyone. Find out about research into bowel (colorectal) cancer, as well as how to take part in clinical trials.

Living with bowel (colorectal) cancer may mean you have changes to your diet, sex life or body image. There is support to help you cope.

Metastatic bowel cancer is cancer that has spread from the back passage (rectum) and large intestines (colon) to other parts of the body, such as the liver. It is also called advanced cancer. Treatment can include chemotherapy, surgery, targeted cancer drugs and radiotherapy.