The 5 red flag symptoms of bowel cancer Dame Deborah James wanted everyone to know – after NHS win
IN A huge win for Dame Deborah James, the NHS announced it would lower bowel cancer screening age from 60 to 50.
After the mum-of-two was diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer in 2016, aged just 35, she tirelessly campaigned to raise awareness around the disease, including it’s five key symptoms.
Before her death in 2022, she led calls for Brits to be screened for bowel cancer at a younger age, raised more than £16million for research into the disease and became known for telling everyone to “check your poo”.
Prior to being diagnosed with the disease, it never occurred to Dame Debs that the strange array of symptoms she experienced for a year could be pinned to bowel cancer.
During one of her final TV appearances, she said: “I had this image of bowel cancer as like basically an old man’s disease, which I now know is absolutely not the case.”
The mum noticed changes to her bowel habits, as well as weight loss, intense tiredness and blood in her poo – but put them down to stress or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
She wrote in her Sun column Things Cancer Made Me Say: “By the time my cancer was diagnosed it was incurable. Had it been picked up earlier, that could have been very different.
“So I know only too well how important it is to act on any symptoms quickly.
“Now, more than ever, I think people need to be more blunt about their symptoms.
“I spent six months back and forth with my GP, I was told my changing bowel habits were ‘nothing to worry about’, or ‘just IBS’.
“It took me showing them a picture of my poo before I ended up having more tests.
“And even then it was too late – a large bowel tumour and eight lung tumours too late.”
Dame Debs continued to warn others that they were “never too young” to be struck by the deadly disease.
Recent research has in fact shown a “concerning” surge in bowel cancer cases in England affecting people under 50.
The lower bowel cancer screening threshold is a huge win for Bowelbabe Debs and The Sun’s No Time 2 Lose campaign which lobbied for the change with Bowel Cancer UK – and it instantly makes four million people eligible for the life-saving check.
Heather James, 67, told the Sun: “Deborah will be up there grinning from ear to ear, jumping for joy.
“But I know she would want to urge anyone who gets a screening invite to take the test!
“She was all too aware that many people ignore the invite and put off their test, a decision that can prove fatal.”
As another notch is added to Dame Deb’s legacy, here are five cancer symptoms Bowelbabe campaigner wanted everyone to know.
1. Blood in your poo or bleeding from your bottom
There are several possible causes of bleeding from your bottom or blood in your poo, which can look red or black.
Bright red blood could come from swollen blood vessels, haemorrhoids or piles, in your back passage.
Dark red or black blood could come from your bowel or stomach.
Blood in your stools is one of the key signs of bowel cancer, so it’s important to mention it to your doctor so they can investigate.
2. A change in loo habits
Are you noticing that you’re needing to poo more or less often than usual?
Is your poo softer than usual or are you getting constipation or diarrhoea that’s not usual for you?
Often feeling like you need to poo, even if you’ve just been to the toilet, is another bowel habit red flag.
It’s important to tell your GP if you have noticed any changes in your bowel habits that last three weeks or longer.
It’s especially important if you have also noticed signs of blood in your poo.
Don’t be embarrassed, your GP will have heard a lot worse! Speak up and get it checked.
What are the symptoms to look for? Remember 'BOWEL'
Having trouble remembering the the red flag symptoms to watch out for?
An easy way to bring them to mind is with the word ‘BOWEL’.
B: Bleeding
O: Obvious change in loo habits
W: Weight loss
E: Extreme tiredness
L: Lump or pain
3. Unintentional weight loss
If you’ve lost weight and don’t really know why, it’s worth mentioning to your GP.
You may not feel like eating, feel sick, bloated and not hungry.
4. Extreme tiredness
Bowel cancer that causes bleeding can lead to anaemia, when you have fewer red blood cells than usual.
This can make you feel very tired, short of breath and have headaches.
5. A lump or pain
As with lots of other forms of cancer, a lump or pain can be a sign of bowel cancer.
It’s most likely you’ll notice a pain or lump in your stomach or back passage.
See your GP if it doesn’t go away, or if it affects how you eat or sleep.
In the words of Dame Debs: “Have you noticed something is up?
“A lump or bump that wasn’t there a few weeks ago, or maybe you’ve suddenly lost weight despite not really trying.
“Have you been to see your GP, or at least called for a phone consultation?
“If the answer to that question is ‘no’, then book an appointment right now.
“If you have noticed a symptom that could be cancer it is vital you see a doctor, and fast.”
How do bowel cancer screenings work?
Bowel cancer is one of the most common forms of the disease in the UK, with more than 44,000 people diagnosed a year.
Yesterday’s announcement that 850,000 50 and 52-year-olds in England will receive postal test kits completes a roll-out that began in 2021.
It also means people will now receive a routine test every two years from the age of 50 to 74.
Catching tumours quickly and before serious symptoms start is the best way to boost survival.
In 2022, the latest data, 6,500 people were diagnosed through the screening programme.
Over 12,000 were put on close monitoring.
The screening programme used a test called a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) that checks for blood in the poo.
Patients use a small stick to take a stool sample when they go to the toilet, then bottle it and send it to NHS labs for testing.
Ninety-eight per cent get the all- clear.
Nine in ten people who require further tests do not have bowel cancer.
The NHS is urging more middle-aged people to come forward for tests, as only around half of eligible people in their 50s do them.
Patients in their 60s and 70s have a far better completion rate at 70 per cent.
If you’re aged 50 to 74 and registered with a GP, you’ll automatically get a bowel cancer screening home test kit (FIT kit) through the post every two years.
If you’re aged 75 or over, you can ask for a home test kit every two years by calling the bowel cancer screening helpline on 0800 707 6060.
If you do not have a permanent home address, you can ask your GP surgery for your test kit to be sent to the GP surgery or to another address.
WOMAN ON A MISSION
By Lizzie Parry, friend of Dame Debs and Sun Head of Health
FROM the moment I met Dame Debs it was clear she was a woman on a mission.
It was February 2017, just a few weeks after she had been told the 6cm tumour growing inside her bowel was incurable cancer.
It was Stage 4 and had already spread. During that first interview Debs, then 35, told me: “You’re never too young.”
She was adamant that as a fit and healthy, vegetarian, marathon- running mother of two she had to raise awareness of the disease that would ultimately claim her life.
If she could be diagnosed with incurable bowel cancer anyone could, she stressed.
A year later when we launched The Sun’s No Time 2 Lose campaign with Bowel Cancer UK, Deborah was totally unstoppable.
She worked tirelessly, and was an inspiration to so many people after updating them on her journey.
She was passionate about getting the Government to listen — and listen they did! As with any major change like this, it takes time.
The first tests for those aged in their 50s began to be sent out in 2021, a year before Deborah died.
I am so glad she lived to see the milestone, and died knowing that the change she worked so hard for had made a strong start.
Now, thanks in a large part to Dame Debs, four million people will get a chance she never got — to catch cancer before it becomes incurable.