Scottish Bowel Cancer Screening Programme
A Scottish Bowel Cancer Screening Programme for all eligible men and women aged between 50 and 74 is being rolled out across the country from June 2007. All Health Boards will be involved in the programme by December 2009
This follows a successful pilot that has been running in Fife, Grampian and Tayside Health Board areas since 2000.
Why Screen For Bowel Cancer?
Bowel cancer is the third most frequently diagnosed cancer in Scotland, with around 3400 new cases every year. After lung cancer it is the second biggest cancer killer in Scotland with 1550 deaths from the disease in 2004. Incidence increased by 5.7% in men and decreased by 1.5% in women between 1992 and 2002.
Although the outcome of treated bowel cancer has improved over the last 25 years, five year survival is still poor at 53%. Major studies have found that bowel cancer screening can reduce the rate of advanced bowel cancer in the screened population.
The Programme
All individuals in the 50 to 74 age range will be invited to complete a test kit at home every two years. Kits are returned by post and will be screened at a central laboratory, call/recall and helpline facility based in Dundee. Results will be sent out within two weeks.
A 'positive' result means blood has been found in the returned sample but it is still unlikely the individual has bowel cancer. The person is offered an appointment with a trained nurse who will explain what happens next, including details of any further investigations.
The Benefits of Screening
The pilot has shown that for every 100,000 people invited for screening we can expect to detect around 100 cancers and 300 pre-cancerous lesions. Once the programme is fully implemented we aim to reduce mortality rates in the target population by at least 15%, potentially preventing over 150 lives being lost to bowel cancer each year.
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