Diagnosis
This section describes the tests you may have to find out whether you have bowel cancer.
You may have some tests when you visit your GP. Other tests are done in hospital. Bowel cancer may also be diagnosed through a screening programme.
Some people are diagnosed after going into hospital in an emergency with pain in the stomach area and sickness (vomiting).
Most people with bowel cancer are diagnosed when they are over the age of 50. But more than 2,600 people under 50 are diagnosed each year in the UK. Find out more about younger people with bowel cancer.
Updated July 2019