Bowel cancer
This cancer starts in the inside wall of the large bowel. It can grow there for a relatively long time before spreading to other parts of the body.
In the UK it is the second most common cause of cancer death and about 16,000 people die of the disease every year.
The UK National Screening Committee (NSC) reviewed the evidence for bowel cancer screening, and found that population screening of people over the age of 50 for non-visible (occult) blood in faeces can reduce the mortality rate for bowel cancer. The NSC recommended to the Health Minister that a pilot screening project be organised to test the feasibility and acceptability of introducing a Nation-wide scheme.
Two pilot sites covering Coventry and Warwickshire in England and Tayside, Fife and Grampian in Scotland have been conducting this acceptability study for three years. Individuals between 50 and 69 years of age are invited to complete a Faecal Occult Blood (FOB) test every two years. Those with a positive result are then offered a colonoscopy. Results have been very encouraging and an evaluation of the first two years can be found on the following web sites:
www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/colorectal/pilot.html and
www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/colorectal/pilot-evaluation.html.Other information about the pilots can be found at:
www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/bowel/index.htmlIndividuals at high risk because a relative has had bowel cancer should be monitored on a regular basis by colonoscopy. Guidelines for bowel cancer screening in high risk groups have been produced by British Society of Gastroenterology. A research project is currently examining the feasibility of performing flexible sigmoidoscopy as a screening tool.
