A recent study by Oxford University researchers has revealed that the heath and economic cost of bowel cancer in the UK is more than prostate cancer and breast cancer.
In terms of economic losses, healthcare costs and the burden of unpaid care provided by friends and family, cancer costs the UK £15 billion a year. Bowel cancer totals £1.6 bn compared to £2.4 bn for lung cancer, £1.5 bn for breast cancer and £800 m for prostate cancer. More than half of this figure relates to people being unable to work and carers taking time off work to care for their friends and family.
