New bride dies after being told: You're too young to have that kind of cancer

DOCTORS shrugged off concerns and claimed her symptoms were just bad period pains.


A BRIDE died four weeks after her wedding – from a cancer she was told she was too young to have.

Laura Connolly, 31, had visited GPs a number of times over a two-year period, complaining of crippling stomach pain and bleeding.

But doctors shrugged off her concerns, claiming her symptoms were just bad period pains.

By the time Laura was finally diagnosed with bowel cancer last July, the disease had spread to her liver and lungs.

She wed her childhood sweetheart Alan last month and passed away exactly four weeks later.

Laura’s mum Lesley Shannon, 54, said her daughter would still be alive if her complaints had been properly investigated.

She added: “We will be burying our beautiful, precious daughter on Wednesday.

“She lost her brave and hard-fought battle against bowel cancer.

“Laura complained of various symptoms for a long period but her cancer went undiagnosed and when she finally had the colonoscopy, it was inoperable.”

Laura, of Kirkintilloch, near Glasgow, wed Alan at Glenskirlie House, near Banknock, Stirlingshire, on March 1.

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Smokers have worse colon cancer prognosis: study

Smokers are less likely to be alive and cancer-free three years after having surgery for colon cancer than people who have never smoked, according to a new study.

Out of about 2,000 people who had part of their colon surgically removed, researchers found 74 percent of those who had never smoked were cancer-free three years later, compared to 70 percent of smokers.


Amanda Phipps, the study's lead author from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, said the results provide another reason why people should quit smoking.

"It's nice when you have findings that portray a consistent public health message," said Phipps.

According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), certain ingredients in cigarettes can dissolve into a person's saliva and cause colon and other cancers.

The ACS estimates about 102,500 Americans will be diagnosed with colon and rectal cancers in 2013, and over 40,000 will die from those diseases.

Phipps and her colleagues previously found smokers with colon cancer were more likely to die than non-smokers from any cause and specifically from their cancers. But the researchers wanted to take a closer look at what smoking meant for colon cancer recurrence.

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Uterine cancer tied to later colon cancer - study

Depending on their age, women diagnosed with uterine cancer may have a higher risk of developing colon cancer later on, according to a new study from Canada.

"As the survival has increased among cancer survivors, it's important to know what the other problems they're facing," said Dr. Harminder Singh, the study's lead author from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.


Cancer of the endometrium - the lining of the uterus - is the most common cancer of the female reproductive tract. The American Cancer Society estimates about 50,000 women will be diagnosed with the cancer in 2013 and about 8,000 will die from it.

Previous research looking at women's risk for colon cancer following endometrial cancer produced mixed results. Also, no study looked at where in the colon those cancers showed up, which can help pick screening techniques.

 

For the new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the researchers used data on 3,115 women diagnosed with endometrial cancer between 1987 and 2008 in the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Read more - http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/04/11/us-health-uterine-colon-cancer-idUKBRE93A0Y120130411