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Beating bowel cancer: early detection saves lives

NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme

Dr Ewen Cameron

Addenbrooke’s is bringing the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme to East Anglia – and doctors hope deaths will fall as a result. Over the next three years, all 60- to 69-year-olds in the area will be offered home testing for the disease.

“The earlier we can catch bowel cancer, the more likely it is that we can cure it,” says Dr Ewen Cameron, consultant gastroenterologist at Addenbrooke’s. “This screening programme is a fantastic opportunity to improve outcomes from the disease.”

Tests will be sent out by post, with clear instructions on what to do, then returned for analysis. An abnormal test result does not necessarily mean someone has bowel cancer – but it does mean that they need further investigation in the new Addenbrooke’s Treatment Centre endoscopy unit.

“Take the test”

“Bowel cancer often doesn't have symptoms early on, but if it’s diagnosed in its earliest stages, there’s an 83 per cent survival rate,” says Dr Cameron. “People who have bowel symptoms need to see their GP, but I urge everyone who receives a test to take it.”

“I was very impressed with the service,” says Brenda Read, 69, from Waterbeach, who was one of the first patients to be seen in the hospital after screening began. “They invited me to come for an appointment and found a polyp, which could have been cancerous. They removed it, and now I’m absolutely fine. I’m telling all my friends that they should take the test when they get the opportunity.”

Last year, Addenbrooke’s treated 226 new cases of bowel cancer. It is the third most common cancer in the UK, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths – but research has shown that regular screening reduces the risk of dying from the disease by 16 per cent.