Bowel cancer ‘must not be a taboo issue’

Reluctance among patients to discuss bowel cancer may be causing an increase in the number of fatalities resulting from the disease, according to an expert.

Mark Flannagan, chief executive of the charity group Beating Bowel Cancer, has stated that the disease has become "the last taboo" among cancers, causing people to miss out on early diagnosis of the illness.

This comes after the European Journal of Cancer published data earlier this week showing that the incidence of colon cancer in Europe has increased by 13.6 per cent since 1975, becoming the continent's second most common cancer.

According to Mr Flannagan, nine out of ten bowel cancer cases could be treated if caught early enough, but many patients are ignoring symptoms and avoiding screening due to a stigma about the disease.

He suggested that a change in this attitude could result in "thousands and thousands" of lives being saved.

"The screening programme is dealing with taboos … it's the type of thing that people don't really talk about in our society," added Mr Flannagan.