Bowel Cancer Symptoms

Bowel cancer can be deadly if it's caught late. Regular screenings and seeing your doctor if you recognize any bowel cancer symptoms can save your life.

Bowel cancer (often called colorectal cancer) results when malignant cells form in the tissues of your colon or the rectum. Although it is highly treatable if found early, bowel cancer is often discovered after it has spread and is then more difficult to cure.

In fact, bowel cancer is now the third leading cause of death from cancer in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute. But you can protect yourself from becoming a colorectal cancer statistic — including learning how to recognize bowel cancer symptoms.

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Bowel cancer symptoms involving bleeding

Colorectal cancer and pre-cancerous polyps that can turn into bowel cancer usually don’t cause symptoms right away. Bowel cancer, however, often causes bleeding into the digestive tract, which can sometimes change the color of your stools, the American Cancer Society points out.

When this happens, you may notice your stools are consistently darker than normal, or they can be streaked with blood. You may also see blood on toilet paper from bleeding in your rectum.

Over time, internal bleeding caused by bowel cancer can increase, resulting in a low red blood count (anemia), which can make you feel unusually tired. The first symptom of bowel cancer may simply be a low red blood count that shows up on a standard blood test during a health check-up.

Other important symptoms of bowel cancer include:

• A change in your normal bowel habits lasting more than a couple of days, such as unusually narrow stools, diarrhea, or constipation
• Abdominal pain, aches, and cramping that doesn’t go away
• Feeling you have not had a complete bowel movement, even if you just had one
• Unexplained weakness and fatigue
• Unexpected weight loss

Talk to your doctor about bowel cancer symptoms

If you experience symptoms of bowel cancer, don’t panic. Other, non-cancerous conditions can cause the symptoms. For example, hemorrhoids can leave blood in your stool or on toilet paper. Anemia and stomach pain can also have other explanations.

But don’t play guessing games with your health and your future. Don’t ignore symptoms of possible bowel cancer. See your doctor as soon as possible, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges. It’s the only way to know the cause.

If you do have colorectal cancer or a pre-cancerous polyp, the quicker you are diagnosed, the better chances you have of successful treatment.

Even if you don’t have bowel cancer symptoms, it’s important to talk to your doctor about screening for colorectal cancer. Tests include:

• Fecal occult blood tests to check for bloody stools
• Sigmoidoscopy (a procedure to look inside your rectum and lower colon for signs of cancer or polyps)
• Virtual colonoscopy (which uses x-rays to make a series of pictures of the inside of your colon)
• Colonoscopy — the most thorough way to check the inside of your colon for cancer and polyps via a tube-like, lighted instrument

Bowel cancers almost always start with polyps. They can be removed and looked at under a microscope to check for cancer cells.

Most people should begin screening for colorectal cancer at age 45 — even if you don’t have symptoms of bowel cancer. Depending on your risk factors and family history and medical history, you may need to be screened at a younger age. Talk to you doctor about when you should be screened for colorectal cancer and the test that’s right for you.

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