Bowel Check - Peace of Mind

Bowel Cancer – The Size of the Problem

Bowel cancer is a major cause of cancer deaths in New Zealand. On average, someone dies from bowel cancer every 7 hours in New Zealand (1200 per year). Death rates from breast cancer (1 every 14 hours) and road traffic accidents (1 every 20 hours) are lower and yet receive much greater publicity and resources. The lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer is 1:18 for men, 1:23 for women and 60% of patients will have significant spread to local lymph nodes or metastasis to remote organs at the time of diagnosis or surgery. The ratio of death rates to incidence rates is a measure of the efficacy of case finding and treatment. In New Zealand the ratio is over 50% which compares unfavorably with figures of around 40% achieved in the United States.

What is the risk?

In New Zealand, the lifetime risk of developing bowel cancer is 1 in 18 for men and 1 in 23 for women. In world rankings, New Zealand has the highest rate of bowel cancer in women and the third highest for men. For those who have a family history of bowel cancer, the risk can be as high as 1 in 4.

While family history is a major factor, more bowel cancer actually occurs in individuals without affected relatives, especially those 55 years and older. In fact, the risk increases progressively though 60s, 70s and 80s age groups.

Bowel Cancer is Preventable

Most cases of bowel cancer are preventable. A number of different strategies for screening for bowel cancer have been suggested and many medical societies and task forces overseas recommend routine screening for colorectal cancer beginning at age 50. Unlike many cancers bowel cancers arise in previously benign polyps which grow over several years before some of the them become cancerous. The objective of screening is to identify these polyps and remove them thus preventing the polyp/cancer sequence.

Why is colonoscopy testing important?

A colonoscopy is the best way to detect polyps or early bowel cancer, allowing successful prevention and successful treatment respectively.

More Information Links: (These links will open a new browser window)

Click here for an article in the Medical Journal of Australia on Bowel Cancer screening.

Click here for Cancer Research UK's article on routine screening for Bowel Cancer.

Lifetime risk of developing bowel cancer
*Number of first degree relatives with bowel cancer**	*Age at diagnosis of bowel cancer in youngest first degree relative affected**	Lifetime risk for males	Lifetime risk for females	Recommended age for screening
0		1:18	1:23	55 years
1	>55 years	1:9	1:11	50 years
2	>55 years	1:6	1:8	40 years
1	>45, <55 years	1:6	1:8	40 years
1	<45 years	1:4	1:5	35 years
* First degree = Parent, child, brother or sister.

Of Interest:

The Katie Couric Effect Katie Couric, co-anchor of the Today Programme on American television produced a series entitled “Confronting Colon Cancer” in the year 2000. She underwent a colonoscopy on camera to increase understanding of this procedure for viewers. As a result of this the number of colonoscopy screenings for bowel cancer has increased almost 20%, a change described as “the Katie Couric Effect”. It is regrettable that no such public awareness campaigns have been initiated in New Zealand and the level of understanding of bowel cancer and its prevention by the public at large is minimal.