Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK. There are around 41,700 new bowel cancer cases in the UK every year, that’s more than 110 every day.
Pancreatic cancer is the 11th most common cancer in the UK, accounting for 3% of all new cancer cases. There are around 9,800 new pancreatic cancer cases in the UK every year, that’s 27 every day. Approximately 80% of patients are inoperable at presentation. Of the remaining 20% only a quarter (i.e. 5% of the total) will be long-term survivors.
At least a third of patients who develop bowel cancer go on to develop secondary liver cancer. This means that each day, 40 people somewhere in the UK will be diagnosed with secondary liver cancer arising from the large intestine.
What we know is that cancers of the GI tract often spread through the body. This spread is often referred to as ‘metastatic’ or ‘secondary’ cancer. When cancer cells break away from the primary tumour in the GI tract (cancer starting in the GI tract), they can travel around in the blood stream or in lymph fluid.
We know that it is common for GI cancers and in particular colon and rectal cancer to spread to the liver. This is because blood from the intestines drains directly through the liver and cancer cells seed into the liver.