bowel cancer statistics
Over 40,000(1) men and
women are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK every year, making
it the third most common cancer; that's someone every 15
minutes
Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in
the UK and around 16,000(2)
people die each year; that's someone every 30 minutes
95% of all diagnoses are in people over the age of 50
Bowel Cancer is very treatable especially if diagnosed at
an early stage, with a survival rate of more than 90%
over five years
Bowel Cancer Diagnosis, Number of Cases, UK
2009(3)
| Cases |
England |
Wales |
Scotland |
Northern Ireland |
UK |
| Males |
18,583 |
1,379 |
2,177 |
617 |
22,711 |
| Females |
15,066 |
1,036 |
1,854 |
475 |
18,431 |
| Total |
33,649 |
2,415 |
4,031 |
1,092 |
41,142 |
Bowel Cancer Deaths, UK, 2010(4)
| Cases |
England |
Wales |
Scotland |
Northern Ireland |
UK |
| Males |
7,170 |
514 |
793 |
228 |
8,705 |
| Females |
5,993 |
400 |
735 |
180 |
7,308 |
| Total |
13,163 |
914 |
1,528 |
408 |
16,013 |
Early Diagnosis
Bowel cancer is very treatable if diagnosed early. However,
currently only 9% of patients in the UK are diagnosed at the very
earliest stage of the disease, known as Dukes A. It is estimated
that approximately 90% of these 9% of patients will survive the
disease for five years or more.
Five year survival rates are lower for patients diagnosed at
later stages of the disease. About 77% of patients diagnosed at the
next stage, Dukes B, survive for five years or more compared with
about 47% at Dukes. Less than 10% of patients diagnosed at Dukes D
survive five years or more.
Dukes stage: Five Year Relative Survival*
- 1996-2006(5)
| Dukes Stage |
% of cases |
Five Year Survival |
| A |
8.7% |
93.2% |
| B |
24.2% |
77.0% |
| C |
23.6% |
47.7% |
| D |
9.2% |
6.6% |
| Unknown |
34.3% |
35.4% |
* Relative survival takes into account the fact
that the person may have died even if they did not have cancer; it
is relative to the rest of the population.
Bowel Cancer
Screening
The roll-out of the bowel cancer screening programme will
increase the number of patients diagnosed in the earlier stages of
the disease. It is estimated that by 2025 more than 2000 lives each
year could be saved as a result of the bowel cancer screening
programme.(6)
Aspirin
The potential benefits of Aspirin in preventing cancer have been
known about for several years, including as a result of a number of
trials and studies. Recent studies published in the Lancet have
shown that a low daily dosage of Aspirin (75 mgs; the same as
junior aspirin) taken over a five year period, can reduce longer
term (i.e. 20 year) incidence and deaths from the disease,
including bowel cancer.
1 Based on latest statistics available: Number
of new cases (2009)
2 Based on latest statistics available: Number of deaths
(2010)
3 Cancer Research UK,
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/bowel/incidence/#By
4Cancer research UK,
http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/bowel/mortality/
5 National Cancer Intelligence Network Data Briefing, 2009.
Colorectal Cancer Survival by Stage. [online] Available at http://www.ncin.org.uk/publications/data_briefings/colorectal_cancer_survival_by_stage.aspx
[Accessed 27 June 2011]
6 Parkin, D.M., Tappenden, P., Olsen, A.H., Patnick, J., Sasieni,
P., Predicting the impact of the screening programme for colorectal
cancer in the UK. Journal of Medical Screening, 2008. 15: p.
163-174.
Last updated 23rd March 2011
