“Three days before the blood donation, I ran the Frankfurt Marathon. I felt in great shape and didn’t give a thought to the fact that I might have an illness,” remembers Carlos F. from Hamburg. “I regularly run marathons, play football and pay a lot of attention to my diet. And I have been donating blood regularly for many years, every two months or so.”

The 69-year-old was all the more surprised when he was told while donating blood “that I hardly had any red blood cells left.” He immediately went to the family doctor, who was also alarmed.

Colon cancer patient: “I wouldn’t have noticed the tumor for a long time”

The subsequent diagnostics brought a surprising and frightening realization: a tumor in the intestine was the cause of the anemia. “I was blown away – if nothing had been noticed when donating blood, I probably wouldn’t have noticed anything for a long time,” reports the Hamburg native.

“Paleness and anemia are indications that the intestine has been bleeding easily for a long time without being noticed,” explain the experts from the German Cancer Aid. This can be caused by a benign intestinal disease, but also colon cancer. “So that you can determine what the problem is, go to your doctor soon,” advise the experts.

Other possible signs of colon cancer include:

• Changed bowel habits: diarrhea, constipation or both alternating
• Cramping abdominal pain and frequent urge to defecate, often without subsequent evacuation
• significant weight loss and weakness
• visible blood in the stool
• more mucous deposits in the stool

The experts explain that there can also be harmless causes behind these signs. “However, if colon cancer is identified as the cause of the symptoms, the earlier it is discovered, the better your chances of recovery.”

After rehab “I want to run marathons again”

Carlos F. was operated on promptly. The tumor could be completely removed without complications. He is currently in rehab. “My daughter tells me to take it easy – but my goal is clear: I want to run a marathon again in the summer,” he says.

Every year around 58,000 people in Germany develop colon cancer and around 24,000 die from it. If colon cancer is detected in the early stages, the five-year survival rate is over 90 percent. Studies show that screening colonoscopy can reduce mortality from colorectal cancer by up to 50 percent.

Early detection of colon cancer from the age of 50

Precisely because the disease often does not cause any symptoms in the early stages Prevention is so important. Statutory health insurance companies offer various examinations from the age of 50, including the immunological stool test and colonoscopy:

• From the age of 50, a colonoscopy is recommended every ten years.
• As an alternative to a colonoscopy, women and men can have a stool test every two years.

However, so far only around 20 to 25 percent of eligible women and men have taken part in preventive colonoscopy, and in the stool test it is only ten to 15 percent.

“My appeal: take advantage of preventive measures. Talk to your family doctor about the recommended examinations. Because, as my patient’s example shows, an early diagnosis can not only save life, but also maintain quality of life – and perhaps even make the next marathon possible,” says Maghsoudi.