Bowel cancer (colorectal cancer)

Bowel cancer is also called colorectal cancer and includes large bowel cancer (colon cancer) and cancer of the back passage (rectal cancer or cancer of the rectum). Find out about bowel cancer symptoms, risk factors, causes and preventing bowel cancer. There is information about tests to diagnose bowel cancer and treatments including surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, biological therapy, research and clinical trials. The living with bowel cancer section has information about diet after surgery, managing a colostomy, and how cancer may affect your sex life.

What to ask your doctor about bowel cancer tests

You can also find bowel cancer organisations providing help and support, a reading list and see where this information comes from.

Did you know that Cancer Research UK has an online forum for people affected by cancer? Cancer Chat is your space to talk about cancer.

Plus join the Q & A sessions on the first Thursday of every month and have your questions answered by one of our cancer specialist nurses.

News: Research backs benefits of new bowel cancer test: A test being introduced by the Government is effective at detecting bowel cancer, a US study has confirmed.; 31 Jan 2012
News: Government launches bowel cancer campaign: The Government has today launched a new campaign to help people spot the warning signs of bowel cancer.; 30 Jan 2012
Press release: CRT spins out company to develop cancer surgery machine to melt tumours: Cancer Research Technology, the commercial arm of Cancer Research UK, has today launched Acublate Limited, a spin-out company which will develop a next-generation High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) surgery device to treat a range of solid tumour types.; 26 Jan 2012

News: A Christmas tale – early diagnosis saved my life: You may have seen the news today that Tesco has chosen Cancer Research UK as its Charity of the Year 2012 and is aiming to raise £10million. The money will be spent on research and awareness to improve early diagnosis … Continue reading →; 10 Jan 2012
News: High-Impact Science: Chasing down the APC bowel cancer gene: In this next post in our High-Impact Science series, we take a look at how our scientists in the late 80s laid the foundations for the discovery of an important bowel cancer gene called APC - now known to be … Continue reading →; 29 Nov 2011
News: Podcast: NCRI Cancer Conference highlights: This month we bring you news from the National Cancer Research Institute conference in Liverpool – the UK’s biggest cancer conference showcasing the latest research from the UK and around the world. We discover how advice on diet and weight … Continue reading →; 22 Nov 2011