A new test is soon to be available on the NHS which it is hoped will cut bowel cancer death rates by 3,000 a year.

Everyone in England aged 55 to 64 will be invited to have the test after the UK National Screening Committee approved its adoption onto the NHS programme. The current test, which relies on people sending off stool samples, will be replaced by Flexible sigmoidoscopy, where a thin, bendy tube is inserted into the rectum, enabling doctors to look at the wall of the bowel. They can then remove any polyps which have the potential to develop into bowel cancer.

About 40,000 in the UK develop bowel cancer every year and more than 16,000 die from it. However, if doctors can get to the polyps before they develop, it is hoped that many more lives will be saved. Data indicates that a one-off screening for bowel cancer could reduce the incidence of the cancer by 33% and death rates by 43%. It is not clear how long it will be before the NHS begins to roll out the new screening programme.

Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK's chief executive, said: “Recent trial results of this method of detecting and removing polyps before they develop into bowel cancer can truly be called a breakthrough. We believe this method will save thousands of lives every year once fully rolled out.”

http://www.pressassociation.com/component/pafeeds/2011/04/07/test_could_cut_bowel_cancer_rates?camefrom=health-wire