So, you’ve got bowel cancer

...what happens now?

HOW BOWEL CANCER IS DIAGNOSED

The disease is usually detected in one of two ways – you’ve either completed screening or you’ve gone to your GP or hospital with symptoms. If you’ve completed a home kit, you’ll receive the results within two weeks.

Most people will need no further action. Some will have polyps, which will require a small procedure to remove them. On rare occasions, the test will find cancer.

WHAT IF YOU GO TO YOUR DOCTOR WITH SYMPTOMS

If your symptoms suggest you may have bowel cancer or the diagnosis is uncertain, you’ll be referred to your local hospital for a procedure called a flexible sigmoidoscopy, to examine your colon.

If this procedure is unsuccessful, you may then need a colonoscopy.

In either investigation, the equipment will include a camera. This relays images to a monitor and can also be used to take biopsies, where a small tissue sample is removed for further analysis.

DEALING WITH A DIAGNOSIS

If a diagnosis of bowel cancer is confirmed, further testing (usually a CT or MRI scan) is carried out to ascertain how advanced your cancer is – the size of the tumour and whether it has spread to other parts of the body.

The stages of the disease are often classed numerically, from one to four, with four being the most advanced. These tests will also help determine the most effective treatment plan.

WILL I NEED A STOMA, OR ‘BAG’

Upon being given the devastating diagnosis of bowel cancer, many patients’ first thoughts turn to whether they will need a stoma, or bag, to collect their waste if a diseased part of their bowel has to be removed.

What’s key to remember is that the disease can be treated using a combination of different treatments, depending on where it is in your bowel and how far it has spread.

The good news is that there have been significant advances in treatments for bowel cancer in the past decade and bags are by no means the only solution now.

In fact, patients with advanced cancers still have a very good chance of cure through the main treatments.

TREATMENT OPTIONS

Surgery, where the cancerous section of bowel is removed. This method is considered to be the most effective way of curing the disease and for many patients, this is the only treatment they will need.

Chemotherapy, where medication is used to kill cancer cells, and/or radiotherapy, where radiation is used to kill cancer cells

Biological treatment, a newer type of medication that increases the effectiveness of chemotherapy and prevents the cancer from spreading.