HealthInfo Canterbury
Overview of bowel cancer
This page has links to information in other languages.
Bowel cancer is a common cancer. It can occur in the large bowel (also called the colon or large intestine) or rectum (the last section of the large bowel). Most bowel cancers develop from a tiny growth, or polyp, that slowly gets bigger over many years.
Reducing your risk of bowel cancer
Some people are more likely to get bowel cancer than others. You can't change some of the risk factors that increase your likelihood of getting bowel cancer but you can change some lifestyle factors.
Risk factors you can’t change include:
- getting older. In New Zealand, 90% of people who develop bowel cancer are over 50
- having a close relative (mother, father, brother or sister) who developed bowel cancer under the age of 55
- having certain bowel conditions such as ulcerative colitis for more than 10 years
- having a rare inherited condition.
The National Bowel Screening Programme (NBSP) is a free programme to help detect bowel cancer. It's being offered every two years to men and women aged 60 to 74 who are eligible for publicly funded health services.
Bowel screening is the most important thing you can do to reduce your risk of bowel cancer. It could help save your life by finding bowel cancer at an early stage where it can often be successfully treated.
For more information about the NBSP, see Time to Screen or phone 0800-924-432.
You can also call 0800-924-432 to get information or help in another language.
Symptoms of bowel cancer
The main symptoms of bowel cancer are:
- unexplained weight loss
- anaemia
- bleeding from your bottom or blood in your poo
- a change in your bowel habits over several weeks with looser or more frequent bowel motions or constipation
- tummy pain, especially if it’s severe.
Diagnosing bowel cancer
Your GP will ask you about your symptoms and whether you have a family history of bowel cancer. They may examine you and ask you to have various tests including a blood test, a test for blood in your bowel motions or a colonoscopy.
Treating bowel cancer
The three main ways bowel cancer is treated are surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
HealthInfo recommends the following pages
- Cancer Society
- Bowel cancer
This 104-page booklet has comprehensive information on bowel cancer, its symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and the after-effects of treatment.
It includes some information in Māori.
- Treatment of bowel cancer
This section has information about how bowel cancer is treated.
- Bowel cancer
- New Zealand Familial Gastrointestinal Cancer Service
A national service funded by the Ministry of Health, which offers bowel cancer risk assessment to people with a family history of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer.
On the next page: Reducing your risk of bowel cancer
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Endorsed by clinical director, Gastroenterology, Canterbury DHB. Last reviewed November 2020.
Sources
Review key: HIBWC-17275
