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Press Release

Patients in England missing out on bowel cancer screening

13 September 2006

People in England are being put at risk of bowel cancer because the NHS has decided to limit screening for the disease to those aged 60-69 years, as opposed to 50-74 year olds in Scotland.

According to Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB), the independent journal for the medical profession, published by Which?, by using an age range of 60-69 years, the programme in England might be less effective in reducing deaths from bowel (colorectal) cancer because it will miss out some of those who may have the disease.

Dr Ike Iheanacho, editor of DTB, comments: “It is unfair that depending on where you live you may miss out on crucial health screening – national screening of the population should mean just that – with the same criteria for all.

“It is also worth noting that if an age cut-off of 69 years (as chosen for England), rather than 74 years, had been used in one of the major bowel cancer screening trials, 25 per cent of detectable cancers would have been missed. It is worrying that the screening programme in England appears so at odds with the evidence from the major population screening trials.”

Around 16,000 people die from colorectal cancer each year in the UK. Faecal occult blood tests to detect bleeding from early cancers are the most widely used screening test for this cancer. Screening of populations with such testing has been shown to reduce the number of people who die from bowel cancer by around 16 per cent.

Dr Ike Iheanacho, editor of DTB, concludes: “While it is good news that UK screening programmes are being introduced, these must be properly resourced and supported to ensure they are effective.

“For example, the programmes will require a high-quality colonoscopy service that can provide further assessment and monitoring of people identified through screening, without compromising the existing services for people who have symptoms suggestive of bowel cancer.”



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