Bowel cancer screening
About one in 20 people in the UK will develop bowel cancer during their lifetime.
Bowel cancer screening aims to detect bowel cancer at an early stage (in
people with no symptoms), when treatment is more likely to be effective.
It is the third most common cancer in the UK, and the second leading cause
of cancer deaths, with over 16,000 people dying from it each year.
Who is the screening for?
If you are aged between 60 and 69 are automatically sent a test kit to be completed at home, every two years.
Those who are over the age of 70 can request a kit by calling the freephone helpline listed under Contact us below.
Eligible men and women will be sent an invitation letter and an information leaflet every 2 years.
One week later a test kit will be sent out together with a step by step instructions
for completing the test. Your results will be sent back to you within 2 weeks.
What does the test involve?
You will be sent a test kit to carry out at home and return by post. The screening centre will then screen for hidden blood in stools which can indicate bowel cancer, although there may be a less serious cause of an abnormal result, such as haemorrhoids (piles) or a stomach ulcer. You will be sent a letter when your results have been processed. This will usually say your sample was normal.
If the result is unclear, you will be asked to complete another test kit.
If your result is abnormal, you will be invited for further investigation called a colonoscopy. This is a procedure where a colonoscope (a thin flexible tube with
a tiny camera on the end) is passed into your rectum and guided around the
large bowel, so that doctors can view your bowel lining. Only around two in every
100 people who arescreened will have an abnormal result and be advised to
consider a colonoscopy.
Contact us
For more information call the Bowel Cancer Screening Helpline on
Tel:0800 707 60 60 or go to the NHS Cancer Screening website via the
right hand link.
