FAQs

NHS bowel cancer screening checks if you could have bowel cancer. It's available to everyone aged 54 to 74 years.

The programme is gradually expanding to make it available to everyone aged 50 to 53 years. You use a home test kit, called a faecal immunochemical test (FIT), to collect a small sample of poo and send it to a lab. This is checked for tiny amounts of blood.

Benign tumours aren't cancerous and are usually not life-threatening. They typically don't invade nearby tissues or spread.

Malignant tumours  develop when cells grow abnormally, and they may form anywhere in the body and they may invade other parts of the body.

Yes. It's a common question! To which one comment is "what planet have you been on these last 50 year?" Cigarettes cause most cancers of the lung. They are also a big factor in cancers of the bladder, pancreas, mouth, larynx, oesophagus, and kidney. Smoking cigars is associated with risk of lung, oral, larynx, and oesophageal cancer. 

There's also a link between second-hand smoke and cancer in both adults and children.
Don't smoke when kids are present (and you are together in an enclosed space such as a car).

Does it really matter? This is irrelevant but (for some bizarre reason) its a common google question! If you have cancer do you care that its an illness or a disease? 

Do NOT think it will go away! It may do, but be prepared to be a pain-in-the-bum, rather than do the British thing and assume it will pass.  Make an urgent appointment with your doctor TODAY. 

Don't be that British person that hides (and then dies of) embarrassment. 
Don't die of embarrassment.

There is no magic wand here. It will be tearful, emotional, difficult and 'gut-wrenching'. Call the various cancer organisations support lines for advice, get past your embarrassment and talk to your best-friends, other cancer sufferers, etc. It's OK to cry, it's OK to swear, it's OK express frustration. It's not OK to turn inward and suppress your feelings as your loved-ones may see you as unwilling to share how you feel. 

Any language that raises awareness and makes your, family and friends get tested is appropriate .  If you are insulted by words, get over it! Would you rather be insulted or dead? 

Anything that helps (cancer sufferers, family, etc.) and raises awareness is acceptable. Sir Billy Connolly once stated that
"there are hundreds of people in the local graveyard that would love to have your problem".

A favourite play on words amongst bowel cancer sufferers is
"let's have a beer and talk shit!".

Metastatic is  the spread of cancer cells from the place where they first formed to another part of the body. In metastasis, cancer cells break away from the original (primary) tumour, travel through the blood or lymph system, and form a new tumour in other organs or tissues of the body. 

When in remission, some microscopic, undetectable cancer may remains in the body, while cancer-free indicates exactly what it sounds like: the patient is entirely free of cancer. A patient is normally considered cancer-free after 5 years of being in remission

These are the 10 deadliest cancers (not the top UK cancers):

• Pancreatic cancer.

• Liver cancer and intrahepatic bile duct cancer.

• Oesophageal cancer.

• Lung cancer and bronchus cancer.

• Acute myeloid leukaemia.

• Brain cancer and other nervous system cancer.

• Stomach cancer.

• Ovarian cancer.

In 2024, these are the UK's top 5 cancers:

• Breast

• Prostate
• Bowel
• Lung
• Skin