About colon cancer

• If you're a non-smoker in the UK, male or female, colon cancer is the most likely cancer to kill you.  1 in 17 men and 1 in 20 women are at risk of developing this type of cancer

• There are 44,000 new cases of colon cancer each year in the UK (equating to 120 people diagnosed each day), and over 16,800 deaths (an average of 46 lives lost every day)

• This needn’t be the case: colon cancer is one of the easiest cancers to treat if it is detected early.  There is a 90% chance of surviving colon cancer if it is diagnosed early at Stage 1 

• The really good news is that this cancer is also preventable in nearly all patients, through regular testing.  If you have a test to look for colon cancer and its precursor polyps are detected, these can be easily removed, significantly reducing the risk of developing this type of cancer

• It's important to be aware of colon cancer and its symptoms. There is a concerning rise of colon cancer cases amongst the under 50s; these have risen 22% since the 1990s in the UK (and doubled in the USA)

• Any abdominal symptoms or change in bowel habit should be discussed immediately with your doctor.  Symptoms can include (but are not limited to): a change in bowel habit; blood in your stool (poo); abdominal pain; unexplained tiredness or weight loss

Please see our Symptoms page for more details of what to look out for

We recommend that you get tested regularly for colon cancer:

• Take up any screening that is offered to you by the NHS: please post back any poo tests sent to your home

• Purchase a qFIT test (a high-sensitivity, easy to do at-home poo test) from 40tude's testing partner, Selph

• If you can, consider enhanced screening such as Colonoscopy or accredited CT Colonography every 5-7 years from your mid 40s

Early diagnosis saves lives

Please see our 'Getting Tested' page for more about the colon cancer testing options in the UK

Get tested for colon cancer

Symptoms of colon cancer