CampaignsHealthcare RationingCancer Screening & TreatmentFree NHS home bowel cancer test may save thousands of lives Free NHS home bowel cancer test may save thousands of lives
24/07/2007
A free home self test for bowel cancer, called the Faecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) is being sent to people aged between 60 and 69 as part of the NHS national bowel cancer screening programme being rolled out in the UK.
The charity Cancer Research UK has predicted up to 20,000 fewer deaths over the next 20 years if just 60% of those eligible for bowel screening went ahead with the simple test. And if even more people completed the test the decrease in mortality would be even greater.
Maxine Taylor, Cancer Research UK's executive director of policy and communications, said: "These new predictions indicate how valuable the NHS bowel screening programme will be in cutting the rising toll of bowel cancer deaths. It is important that the programme is rolled out as efficiently and quickly as possible so that the maximum number of eligible men and women can benefit.
"Our campaign urges politicians to encourage an extra three million people to attend breast, bowel and cervical screening when they are invited, and also seeks to raise greater awareness among the public so that they take advantage of these programmes that all help to save lives."
The self test kit is sent to eligible people who are asked to take faecal samples on three separate occasions, and then send them away for analysis. If abnormalities are found a colonoscopy is the next step. In many cases small pre-cancerous growths, detected by colonoscopy, can be removed and bowel cancer is prevented from developing. The FOBT is expected to pick up around half of any cancers but the researchers used a conservative estimate of around four in 10 for their calculations.
David Phillips (left), a retired swimming coach from Coventry, was part of the pilot bowel screening programme and was sent a test kit in 2001. Initially reluctant, his wife persuaded him to do the test and the result showed blood in the sample. The test was repeated and Mr Phillips was asked to have a colonoscopy. Bowel cancer was diagnosed and he had surgery two weeks later. He is now fully recovered and has six-monthly check-ups.
He said: "I was very lucky that the screening test picked up on something that could have developed into a much worse situation. Early diagnosis was the reason I have made such a good recovery. Without it I probably would not have known that I had cancer, but thanks to screening I am here to tell the story."
Professor Max Parkin, Cancer Research UK epidemiologist at the Wolfson Institute, London, said: "Our research looked at a realistic scenario where uptake is about 60% and compared those results with an optimistic scenario where uptake could rise to 80%. In both cases thousands of deaths could be prevented. But for the purpose of this calculation we assumed 20% of people wouldn't do this test."
There are around 35,000 cases of bowel cancer diagnosed each year in the UK, and more than 16,000 people die from the disease. Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK.
Maxine Taylor, Cancer Research UK's executive director of policy and communications, said: "These new predictions indicate how valuable the NHS bowel screening programme will be in cutting the rising toll of bowel cancer deaths. It is important that the programme is rolled out as efficiently and quickly as possible so that the maximum number of eligible men and women can benefit."
Cancer Research UK is working with a number of other charities on developing the Screening Matters campaign including Beating Bowel Cancer (first website link below, Tel: 020 8892 5256) and Breast Cancer Care (second link), Tel: 0845 092 0807).
For more information on Screening Matters visit the third link below.