GPs missing bowel cancer in women

WOMEN are being diagnosed late with bowel cancer because their symptoms are overlooked by GPs, researchers warn today.

They are more likely than men to have their cancer picked up in A&E, after making frequent trips to their family doctor.

Researchers from University College London suspect that GPs are mistaking their symptoms for gynaecological conditions or irritable bowel syndrome.

Their study found that 34 per cent of women with bowel cancer were diagnosed in A&E, when it is often too late to treat. This compared with 30 per cent of men.