The symptoms of large bowel cancer

The symptoms of cancer of the large bowel may include any of the following:

• blood in, or on, the stools (bowel motion). The blood may be bright red or dark in colour
• a change in your normal bowel habit (such as diarrhoea or constipation) for no obvious reason, lasting longer than 6 weeks
• unexplained weight loss
• pain in the abdomen or back passage
• a feeling of not having emptied your bowel properly after a bowel motion.

Sometimes the cancer can cause a blockage (obstruction) in the bowel. The symptoms of this are sickness, constipation, griping pain and a bloated feeling in the abdomen.

Although these symptoms can be caused by conditions other than cancer of the large bowel, it is important that you always have them checked by your doctor. As bowel cancer usually occurs in people over the age of 50, these symptoms in younger people are often thought to be due to other bowel problems such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or ulcerative colitis. The symptoms of IBS and ulcerative colitis can be made worse by stress.