Another Face of Bowel Cancer

It’s easy to understand why Emily McGrath dismissed her bowel cancer symptoms as something less sinister. At 37, fit and healthy, she’d only ever seen older men represented as the face of the disease.

When Emily noticed a little blood in her bowel movements in late 2018, she self-diagnosed it as haemorrhoids. But in January 2019, Emily had a significant bleed. A colonoscopy at Cabrini Malvern confirmed Stage 3 bowel cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes.

“When you see an ad for bowel cancer, the images are of older men that look nothing like you,” Emily said. “So, you just don’t associate it with yourself.”

Under the care of Professor Paul McMurrick and Cabrini specialists, Emily had a bowel resection, an ileostomy, and seven months of chemotherapy. Like many cases of early-onset bowel cancer, Emily’s diagnosis was one of a growing number across Australia that don’t fit the traditional profile.

A Shifting Demographic

It’s a pattern Cabrini’s Prof Paul McMurrick, Chair of the Cabrini Monash University Department of Surgery and a leading advocate with Let’s Beat Bowel Cancer, recognises all too well.

“Nearly 2000 Australians under the age of 50 now develop bowel cancer each year,” Prof McMurrick says. “These early-onset cancers tend to be diagnosed at more advanced stages, making early detection through screening critically important.”

Let’s Beat Bowel Cancer is calling for the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program to be extended to encourage Australians above the age of 30 to consider using the FOB (Faecal Occult Blood) test kit each 12 months, even if the Program doesn’t provide it.

Emily's Message

And Emily’s message to anyone sitting on a symptom they’re not sure about is simple:

“Act on it straight away,” she said. “The treatment for this can be really straightforward if it’s caught early.”

More information: letsbeatbowelcancer.com.au