A 33 year-old woman who was in ‘excellent health’ was given a shock diagnosis of incurable colon cancer, after mistaking her symptoms for pain caused by an ill-fitting bra and a stomach bug.
Radwah Oda, a risk control analyst, began struggling with gut problems and a pain in her chest in August 2021, but assumed she was ‘too healthy’ to be struck with anything serious.
‘I exercised up to five times a week and was eating a clean diet,’ she said. ‘So whenever I experienced symptoms, I brushed them off as something minor.’
For instance, the pain just beneath her right breast was ‘due to my bra being too tight’.
And blood in her stool, which she experienced weeks later, was down to a hernia, she believed.
‘I didn’t make time for doctor’s appointments and hadn’t had an annual check-up in years,’ said Ms Oda, who hails from Texas, the US.
However, when she began vomiting and suffering diarrhoea, she visited her local A&E for help.
But doctors there echoed her suspicions of a stomach bug, and treated her with a fluid drip to help with dehydration.
Radwah Oda never thought she could get cancer as we was in ‘excellent health’ at the time of her diagnosis
But a CT scan revealed the horrifying truth — she had stage four colon cancer that had caused 20 secondary tumours to develop on her liver.
‘At that moment, when the doctor told me it was cancer, the room seemed to close in around me,’ she said.
‘I felt so small and vulnerable, completely overwhelmed by shock.
‘At first, I couldn’t believe it – it didn’t feel real. I couldn’t understand how this could happen to me.
‘I felt like I had done everything right – eating healthy, exercising regularly, using natural products. I was still young, and I thought I was doing everything I could to avoid cancer.’
Radwah started chemotherapy the following month, completing 12 rounds before undergoing three surgeries.
The first, in May 2022, involved the removal of part of her colon and half of her liver, while the second surgery, in December 2022, removed more of her liver.
The third surgery took place in February 2024, which involved removing another section of her liver.
She suffered pain in the chest, likely caused by the tumours that had developed on her liver, causing complications that lead to a build-up of fluid around the lungs
Next, she tried a new chemotherapy treatment in the form of Lonsurf pills – but unfortunately, it made her very sick and didn’t stop the tumours from growing.
Now, Ms Oda is pinning her hopes on a clinical trial of a new treatment, and awaits CT scans to determine whether or not it is working.
In the meantime, the mum is dedicated to raising awareness – and ensuring others don’t ignore the early symptoms like she did.
Telltale signs of colorectal cancer can include blood in the stool, a change to bowel habits including constipation and diarrhoea, and abdominal pain and cramping.
‘Being diagnosed with stage four cancer in my 30s was something I never expected,’ she said.
‘My future plans have had to shift to accommodate my health, and while cancer has taken over much of my life, I refuse to let it steal my happiness.
‘This experience serves as a reminder that even when bad things happen, there’s always something to be thankful for.
Ms Oda said she wishes she advocated for herself more with medics, and pushed for further investigations
‘Since my diagnosis, I’ve created a bucket list and slowly am living my life to the fullest while undergoing cancer treatment.
‘I’m planning to swim with dolphins, visit the Grand Canyon, travel Europe, and go on a safari.
‘Keep up with your annual appointments, and if something doesn’t feel right, speak up.
‘If you disagree with your doctor’s prognosis, advocate for yourself until they listen and you’re satisfied with the care you’re receiving.
‘Looking back, I regret not advocating for myself more – I wonder if I could have caught it earlier.’
Ms Oda’s experience comes amid a mystery surge in colon cancers among younger people over the last few decades.
According to official figures, incidences of the disease across the globe have risen by 50 per cent in 20, 30 and 40-somethings over the past 30 years.
Some experts believe the explanation must lie with our increasing tastes for junk food — and the co-current rise in obesity, affecting the health of our digestive system.
However, this doesn’t explain the rise in the disease in young people who are otherwise perfectly fit and healthy.
The phenomenon was highlighted last summer by BBC Radio 4 producer Molly Guinness, who had been diagnosed with colon cancer aged 39, in a series of posts on X.
In one viewed nearly 15,000 times she said: ‘I’m one of five young people I know diagnosed with colon cancer in the last year – all of us are slim with healthy diets.’
‘I look around the waiting room at the colorectal clinic – everyone I see there has a healthy BMI.’
Professor Karol Sikora, a world-renowned oncologist with over 40 years’ experience, told MailOnline last year that blaming junk food and ultraprocessed foods alone was overly ‘simplistic’.
He said that his suspicion was that a change in young people gut’s microbiome — the thousands of bugs in our digestive system — could be responsible for increasing cancer risk.
‘A healthy microbiome is critical for preventing bowel cancer,’ he said. ‘Gut cells bathe in the products produced by the bacteria 24/7.
‘So it wouldn’t be surprising if some changes resulted in a higher or lower incidence of colon cancer.’
Some of the organisms in our gut are helpful aiding digestion or, by their very presence, stopping other, harmful, organisms from taking root.
But the microbiome, and the links between those organisms and the influencer of their by-products, is complicated.
‘The trouble when analysing that is that it is so complex, there are so many factors that affect the microbiome; diet, alcohol, how you cook food,’ Professor Sikora said.
Meanwhile, Consultant oncologist Dr Hendrik-Tobias Arkenau, from HCA Healthcare in London, said the rise in colon cancers among young people was a ‘real concern’.
Dr Arkenau said while the reason behind the increase remained unclear, he too thought it was a combination of factors influencing the microbiome of young people’s guts.
He said use of antibiotics in childhood, falling rates of breastfeeding, vitamin intake and diet changes are just some factors that could be at play.
‘There is no clear cut one thing, I think it is multi-factorial and there are other aspects like dropping vitamin D levels,’ he said.
