Key symptoms of bowel cancer in young people as important signs often ignored

Bowel cancer cases are rising among people under the age of 50.

There has been a 50 percent increase in cases since the mid 1990s with over 2,400 to 2,600 new cases diagnosed annually in the UK, according to Bowel Cancer UK. It is now the second biggest cancer killer in Britain.

The UK's leading bowel cancer charity said that a 2020 report showed that 50 percent of 'younger people surveyed didn’t know that they could develop the disease before their diagnosis'.

According to the NHS, symptoms of bowel cancer may include:

· Changes in your pooing habits

· Bleeding from your bottom

· Feeling like you need to poo even if you've just been to the toilet

Blood in your stool is a key symptom of bowel cancer but could also be a sign of other health conditions (Getty Stock Images)

· Tummy pain

· A lump in your tummy

· Bloating

· Losing weight without trying

· Feeling very tired for no reason

Bowel cancer cases are rising amongst young people (Getty Stock Images)

Dawson's Creek actor James Van Der Beek, 48, passed away earlier this week following his stage three colorectal cancer diagnosis in 2023. His family announced his death in a statement on Wednesday.

"I’d always associated cancer with age and with unhealthy, sedentary lifestyles," he previously told People. "But I was in amazing cardiovascular shape."

"I tried to eat healthy- or as far as I knew it at the time. I thought maybe I needed to stop coffee, or maybe not put cream in the coffee. But when I cut that out and it didn’t improve, I thought, ‘All right, I better get this checked out'."

A colonoscopy later revealed that he had bowel cancer.

"I think I went into shock," Van Der Beek added. "You think, ‘How do I fix this? Is this healing me? Is this hurting me? Is this working? Is it coming back?’ As someone who likes answers, not knowing is one of the hardest things."

Changes in bowel habits could be a sign (Getty Stock Images)

The same year Van Der Beek was diagnosed, the American Cancer Society (ACS) reported that 20 percent of diagnoses in 2019 were in patients under age 55 and rates of advanced disease increased by about three percent annually in younger adults.

“If anyone has any change in their bowel habits, if they have any bleeding—even if they think it’s a hemorrhoid, and it doesn’t go away—just get a colonoscopy,” Vikram Reddy, MD, PHD, colorectal surgeon, told Yale Medicine.

“Even if you're in your 20s or 30s, you should get checked out if you have rectal bleeding, if you have any change in your bowel habits, any change in appetite (like feeling 'full' early), weight loss, or abdominal pain that is not explained,” added Haddon Pantel, MD, a Yale Medicine colorectal surgeon.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00, 8am–8pm seven days a week.