Northern Ireland bowel cancer screening programme begins

The Northern Ireland bowel cancer screening programme was launched on 22nd April 2010. The programme is targeted at all men and women aged 60–69 years and aims to reduce the number of deaths due to bowel cancer by detecting early warning signs of the disease. The screening programme has started in the Northern and Western Trust areas and will be extended across Northern Ireland in the coming months.

Bowel cancer is the second most common cancer in Northern Ireland, with 1,000 new people diagnosed each year. The Public Health Agency (PHA) would like to highlight the importance of screening and would encourage everyone to avail of the service when invited to participate in the bowel cancer screening programme.

The current screening test looks for traces of blood in the bowel motions. It is called an FOB test and the sample is collected using a simple card in the privacy of your own home. If the result is positive, this indicates that blood is present and further investigations are needed. The programme can detect signs of bowel cancer at very early stages, when there is a 90% chance that treatment will be successful and potentially reduce deaths from bowel cancer by 15%.

The study reported recently in the Lancet, looked at using a different type of test (a sigmoidoscopy) in addition to the current screening programme. As with all new research relating to screening programmes, the findings will be reviewed by the National Screening Committee which will advise the four UK countries if any change to the exisiting programme is needed.