The Media

For many years, the media has struggled with how to write about a disease that although it is the most common cancer in Europe is still very much a taboo subject!

There have been various reasons for colorectal cancer being such a difficult subject to write about: the fear and lack of understanding surrounding the disease; the lack of medical developments in the area; the fact that it mainly affected older people, who were not considered newsworthy; and that patients were not, by nature, campaigners, so were unlikely to go to the media with any issues they might have. Not least the fact that colorectal cancer affects a part of the body that is not easy to write about and for many people very embarrassing!

Things began to change in the 21st century: as many more treatments became available and the issues around the disease began to become more high profile, including the need for screening and access to the new revolutionary treatments.