The bowel
The bowel is part of the digestive system. This is called the gastrointestinal tract or GI tract for short. The digestive system processes all the food we eat and turns it into energy for the body to use.
The bowel is divided into the small bowel (small intestine) and the large bowel (colon and rectum). Food passes down the foodpipe (gullet or oesophagus) into the stomach. The food is digested and passes into the small bowel. Here the body absorbs nutrients from the food. The food then passes through the large bowel, which absorbs water and forms the waste matter into stool. The stool is stored in the back passage (rectum) until it is ready to be passed out of the body.
The small bowel
The small bowel is actually the longest part of the bowel. It is called small because it is narrower than the large bowel. Cancer of the small bowel is rare.
The large bowel
The large bowel is made up of the colon and rectum. It has walls made of several layers. Bowel cancers start in the innermost layer - the lining of the bowel. If left untreated, it can grow into the muscle layers underneath, and then through the bowel wall. Most bowel cancers take 5 to 10 years to develop. Most begin as a small growth on the bowel wall called a polyp or adenoma.
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