There is a wealth of informtion that via the links in the patients and cancer sections for further informaton.
For now though I want to summarise as best as possible the situation. These are my views but I beleive I'm well informed
, have alot of first hand knowledge and am not alone in these views.
I grew up with the standard guidance and interpretation of cancer that was prevelent in the media. A costly mistake for me
That was that typically it's an older persons disease, caused by poor lifestyles, diets. There is no cure but
instances and deaths are decreasing. Plus people generally seem to be able to fight the illness better than before with
the new treatments that are available.
When I'm young and not reaching 50, I shouldn't be overtly concerned if I have some changes in bowel habbits but
no the symptoms within the current guidace. I.e. constipation alone is not a large concern but along ith bloody stools would be.
This cancer type has long been on the rise amongst younger people, diagnosis often occcurs too late leading to early deaths
Well I can safely say that my long held views (views I see my peers had) were and are incorrect. Whilst overall rates and deaths
attributable to cancer might be decreasing, rates of colon cancer are increasing. In particular those containing the BRAF mutation
which is increasingly affecting people under age 50 (rise upon rise in cases diagnosed year on year for the last 5 years in the UK and
other developed countries). Early testing is not carried out at that age and where appointments are made, often mis-diagnosed and for some of us
were are symptomles.
So typically those diagnosed under age 50 aren't diagnosed until the cancer is late stage and often terminal.
Whilst the articles are out there it is not so well publicised and when it is often miss reported. I have this
cancer type (colon cancer BRAF mutation), I ate quite heathily, was very active, didn't smoke and didn't drink much.
Furthermore I was symptomless
, infact at the peak of fitness in the run up to diagnosis. My profile is not atypical of other patients I speak to either.
This cancer type is particularly deadly and carries a poor prognosis.
There have been greate advances in cancer treatment in recent years. Immunotherapy for example has significantly improved survival
rates of more established cancer types. That is not the case for colon cancer with BRAF mutation.
Colon cancer is highly mutatable, that simply means the cancer is more adaptable, able to use different growth pathways
, become resistant to some treatments and spread in other ways. Most standard treatments are less effective on most of these
mutations
, in fact some have not specfic targeted treatments.
BRAF mutation is a good example, I have this mutation it's spread to my liver (as colon cancer often does) and the way the
cells replicate is fairly stable
, (known as MSS) again common amongst my cancer type.
In effect, it's mutated enough so that treatments are not that effective against it and mutates more to build resistance to
newer treatments.
The cell replication is fairly stable and it's in some harder to treat places like the liver, so immunotherapy is not very
effective against it.
So I've gone from being a seemlying healthy 44 year old young father, to a terminally ill sufferer with registered disabilities,
frequent trips to hospitals and relying on round the clock care from others.
2 years ago I thought I'd be living well into retirement (70s to 90s), now I think I'll be lucky if I stay alive till my next birthday.
Living past age 50 is very unlikely statistically. Of course I'm not giving up and will do all I can to live longer, I'm not ready to die and leave my young family
, however I need to also be clear on the reality of my situation. It's a situation face by increasing numbers of my peers.
Absolute volumes might be low, however figures are rising the impacts once diagnosed are very severe / likely death is a number of months.
What can you do?
GET tested... I would urge people to get tested at any stage from becoming an adult at sensible intervals regardless of whether they
experience symptons. There are a variety of different tests, some can be quite inexpensive and besides nothing compared to the cost
of cancer not being caught early. Relay this information to others. I would also suggest
reading about ultra processed foods and emerging
risk factors associated with colon cancer. Many of the so called "healthy" foods, I grew up with in the 80s now look far from it.