How can I reduce my bowel cancer risk?
Diet & lifestyle
Healthy diet and lifestyle choices, as well as screening and surveillance, can help to reduce your bowel cancer risk.
Evidence reveals quitting smoking, abstaining from or limiting alcohol consumption, and eating foods containing dietary fibre are all beneficial.
Maintaining a healthy weight and engaging in regular physical activity have also been shown to reduce the risk of colon cancer, but not rectal cancer.
Additionally, people who are more physically active before a bowel cancer diagnosis are less likely to die from the disease than those who are less active.
For people aged 50-70 years without symptoms or a family history of bowel cancer, a GP may also recommend taking a low dose of aspirin for at least 2.5 years.
Whether or not a person should take aspirin depends on their general health, and whether they have another condition that could be made worse by aspirin (e.g. allergy to aspirin, stomach ulcers, bleeding or kidney problems).
Bowel Cancer Australia recommends participating in screening appropriate to your personal level of risk.
Bowel cancer screening is safe and easy and can be done at home.
For people at average or near average risk* of bowel cancer, Australian medical guidelines recommend screening using a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) every 2 years between ages 50-74.
The guidelines also state GPs can offer a faecal immunochemical test every 2 years to people aged 45-49 who request it, after being fully informed of the benefits (and any possible harms) of testing.
In May 2018, the American Cancer Society changed its screening guidelines to recommend lowering the starting age for people at average risk of bowel cancer from 50 to 45 years in response to the rising rates of bowel cancer in young and middle-aged populations. The updated guidelines also state for people aged 76-85, the decision to be screened should be based on a person's preferences, life expectancy, overall health, and prior screening history.
Screening involves collecting small samples of toilet water or poo, placing them on a card or in a container, and mailing them to a pathology laboratory for analysis. The results are then sent back to the individual and their GP.
By 2020, Australia will have a fully implemented National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP), whereby people aged 50-74 will receive a tax-payer funded screening test in the mail every 2 years.
A positive result means blood in poo has been detected. It does not necessarily mean bowel cancer is present but does require further investigation by a GP and a referral for colonoscopy within 30 days.
A negative result means blood in poo has not been detected in the samples; however, it does not guarantee no cancer is present or that the person will never develop bowel cancer.
The at-home test is able to detect non-visible blood that cannot be seen with the naked eye. Blood in poo is one possible symptom of bowel cancer. If the result of the test is positive, the person is contacted to arrange a colonoscopy.
For people ineligible to participate in the government program, talk to your GP or pharmacist today about BowelScreen Australia, or order a screening test online or by calling Bowel Cancer Australia's Helpline on 1800 555 494.
* People with (i) no first- or second-degree relative with bowel cancer; or (ii) one first-degree relative with bowel cancer diagnosed at 55 years or older; or (iii) one first-degree and one second-degree relative diagnosed with bowel cancer at 55 years or older.
Bowel cancer surveillance
People from families with bowel cancer need extra testing to find bowel cancer early. This could include having regular colonoscopies.
The age at which a person should start regular bowel check-ups depends on their risk category.
They may also be advised to start taking low-dose aspirin regularly from age 25.
If you think you have a family history of bowel cancer or an inherited gene mutation, you should make an appointment with your GP to talk about your own risk.
