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NHS England will significantly increase its strength Bowel Cancer Screening Programaiming to catch thousands of cases at an earlier, more treatable stage.
The National Health Service will lower the testing threshold for its home stool screening kits from next month. The move brings England’s approach in line with what is already in place in Scotland and Wales.
This adjustment is expected to identify an additional 600 bowel cancer At the beginning of each year, the number of cases is 11% higher than the current number. Thousands of people will also be checked for signs of illness.
In addition, approximately 2,000 more people suffer from high-risk polyps – growths in the intestines that may develop into polyps. cancer – is expected to improve as a result of this change.
As a result, the NHS is expected to perform 35% of colonoscopies, equivalent to around 34,000 additional surgeries each year, to help diagnose or rule out bowel cancer.
The at-home stool test kit, called the Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT), is available to everyone aged 50 and older and works by detecting signs of blood in stool samples.
It measures micrograms of human hemoglobin per gram of stool. People simply put a stool sample in a test tube at home and mail it to the NHS for testing.
The definition of a positive or negative result can be changed by changing the threshold that triggers further testing, such as colonoscopy.
In Scotland and Wales, the FIT screening threshold is already 80 μg Hb/g, but in England and Northern Ireland it is set at 120 μg Hb/g.
Changes in NHS England now mean England’s FIT threshold has been reduced to 80 micrograms/g, in line with Scotland and Wales.
Once fully implemented, lower-threshold testing is expected to reduce late-stage diagnoses and deaths from bowel cancer in England by around 6% and save the NHS £32 million a year.
The UK National Screening Committee (NSC) recommends that the optimal threshold is 20 μg/g.
However, as this places increased demand on NHS services such as colonoscopies and pathology, the UK National Safety Council recommends working towards this optimal threshold over time.
NHS England said on Monday it would also launch new digital reminders telling people the kits were in post offices to increase people’s use.
The government’s National Cancer Plan will be published next week, setting out plans for how cancer care will be transformed by 2035.
Peter Johnson, NHS National Clinical Director for Cancer, said: “This is an important step forward in bowel cancer detection and will help save hundreds of lives from this devastating disease.
“Now, lower threshold testing will provide a better early warning system for bowel cancer, helping us to detect and treat cancer earlier, often catching problems before symptoms appear.
“Early detection means less intensive treatment and ensures the best chance of survival, and in many cases people can avoid facing cancer altogether by removing dangerous polyps before they cause harm.
“I would strongly encourage everyone who has a bowel screening test to complete the test and return as soon as possible – it really can make all the difference.”
Genevieve Edwards, chief executive of Bowel Cancer UK, said: “This is great news for people living in England.
“Improving the sensitivity of the test means more cancers will be prevented and detected earlier, saving more lives from the fourth most common cancer in the UK.”
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “This important step by NHS England to lower the barrier to further testing after bowel screening will save lives.
“This means more cancers will be detected at an earlier stage, when treatment is more likely to be successful, while also stopping some cancers from developing in the first place.
“ Bowel cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in England, so it’s vital that progress like this continues.
“Screening is for people without symptoms, so if someone sees something that doesn’t suit them they should tell their GP. It may not be cancer, but if it is, catching it early can make a real difference.”
Currently, about 2% of people who take FIT tests require further investigation. This is now expected to rise to 3%.
In Northern Ireland, the FIT threshold remains at 120 micrograms.