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Bowel cancer awareness
These are the key symptoms of bowel cancer, which is the fourth most common cancer in the UK.
Diagnosing bowel cancer early means treating it is more likely to be successful.
If you have any of the symptoms below, make an appointment with your GP.
Symptoms of bowel cancer
For fast help if you have a sign of cancer
If you're worried you might have cancer and you have our health insurance, don't wait. Get in touch with our team to talk about your symptoms now.
Call us on 0808 256 1261
Learn moreHow Beating Bowel Cancer can help you
Beating Bowel Cancer is the support and campaigning charity for everyone affected by bowel cancer. The charity provides practical and emotional help – on the phone, online and face to face. The charity runs the UK’s only nurse-led specialist helpline for bowel cancer.
Here are some helpful places, tools and articles you can go to for further support and information.
- Beating Bowel Cancer’s online forum is a safe place where you can talk to other people affected.
- Find out what else your symptoms might be caused by.
- These questions can help you prepare for your doctor appointment.
- Talk to one of Beating Bowel Cancer's nurses on 020 8973 0011 or email them at nurse@beatingbowelcancer.org.
For more information, visit www.beatingbowelcancer.org.
About our health information
At Bupa we produce a wealth of free health information for you and your family. We believe that trustworthy information is essential in helping you make better decisions about your health and care. That’s why our content is produced to the highest quality standards. Look out for the quality marks on our pages below. You can find out more about these organisations and their standards on The Information Standard and HON Code websites.
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Sources
- Early detection of cancer. World Health Organization. www.who.int, accessed 2 June 2015
- Bowel cancer campaign: overview. Cancer Research UK. www.cancerresearchuk.org, reviewed 24 October 2014
- Referral guidelines for suspected cancer. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), June 2005. www.nice.org.uk
- Map of Medicine. Colorectal cancer. International View. London: Map of Medicine; 2014 (Issue 4).
- Bowel cancer survival statistics. Cancer Research UK. www.cancerresearchuk.org, reviewed 1 December 2014
- Why is early diagnosis important? Cancer Research UK. www.cancerresearchuk.org, reviewed 2 April 2015
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Author information
Produced by Natalie Heaton, Bupa Health Content Team, September 2015.
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This information was published by Bupa's Health Content Team and is based on reputable sources of medical evidence. It has been reviewed by appropriate medical or clinical professionals. Photos are only for illustrative purposes and do not reflect every presentation of a condition.
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