1. Key facts about bowel cancer
■Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer.
■It affects 33,000 people every year in England with the majority of cases occurring in people over
the age of 55.
■There are 13,000 deaths a year but it can be less deadly if spotted and diagnosed early.
■More than 90% of people diagnosed with bowel cancer at an early stage survive for at least 5 years
compared with only 6% of those diagnosed at a late stage.
■If England’s bowel cancer survival rates matched the best in Europe an additional 1,700 lives would
be saved every year.
■Around 14,600 cases were diagnosed in women and 18,000 in men in England in 2008.
■Two thirds of bowel cancer develop in the colon, while the remaining third developing in the
rectum
■Bowel cancer is also referred to as colorectal cancer. It includes both cancer of the colon and
cancer of the rectum.
http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/01/bowel-cancer-campaign/ Accessed May 1st 2012.
The chemotherapy makes the cancer cells more sensitive to the radiation. So this combined
treatment is likely to be more successful than radiotherapy on its own. It is also called
chemoradiation, chemoradiotherapy or concomitant chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
http://cancerhelp.cancerresearchuk.org/type/bowel-
cancer/treatment/chemotherapy/chemotherapy-with-radiotherapy-for-rectal-cancer
Accessed May 1st 2012.