Bowel cancer 'red flags': Four signs you should see a doctor now - even if you're young
Having just one of the four early warning signs of bowel cancer can double the chance of being diagnosed as millennials are found to have double the risk when compared to young adults in the 1950s
Early red flags showing of potential bowel cancer have been identified as young adults are urged to be aware of the warning signs.
Scientists in the US have listed four key symptoms people complain of as far as two years ahead of the cancer being detected, as it's revealed the number of young people diagnosed has doubled in recent years. Having just one of the symptoms doubles the risk of bowel cancer, researchers claim, while three or more can multiply the likelihood by 6.5 times.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, studied data on more than 5,000 patients with early-onset bowel cancer. The team said the four key signs usually show between three months and two years before being diagnosed. These were abdominal pain, rectal bleeding, diarrhoea and iron deficiency anaemia, with doctors saying each indicated an increased risk in patients under age 50.
It comes as experts issue a warning to young adults that bowel cancer "is not simply a disease affecting older people". Awareness of bowel cancer among young Brits especially is thought to have boomed following the work Dame Deborah James did to raise its profile. The late presenter was 35 when she was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer.
Researcher and associate professor Yin Cao ScD said: "Colorectal cancer is not simply a disease affecting older people; we want younger adults to be aware of and act on these potentially very telling signs and symptoms - particularly because people under 50 are considered to be at low risk, and they don’t receive routine colorectal cancer screening."
"It’s also crucial to spread awareness among primary care doctors, gastroenterologists and emergency medicine doctors," Dr Cao said. "To date, many early-onset colorectal cancers are detected in emergency rooms, and there often are significant diagnostic delays with this cancer." Dr Cao said two symptoms in particular - rectal bleeding and iron deficiency anaemia, a blood condition causing tiredness and pale skin - mean patients should immediately see their doctor and ask for an endoscopy.
Bowel cancer screenings on the NHS are supposed to take two weeks to develop, although recent data showed were waiting over a year to be screened or get their results due to a current backlog in waiting times. According to the scientists, people born in 1990 have double the risk of colon cancer and four times the risk of rectal cancer compared with young adults born in 1950.
"Since the majority of early-onset colorectal cancer cases have been and will continue to be diagnosed after symptom presentation, it is crucial to recognize these red-flag signs and symptoms promptly and conduct a diagnostic work-up as soon as possible," Dr Cao added. "By doing so, we can diagnose the disease earlier, which in turn can reduce the need for more aggressive treatment and improve patients’ quality of life and survival rates."