Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people in their 50s are screened for bowel cancer.

Bowel cancer screening is offered at two stages, once with a flexible camera at age 55 and then every two years between 60 and 74.

In July 2003, bowel cancer screening by Faecal Occult Blood (FOB) testing for men and women aged 50-74 was recommend by the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC). Roll out in England was initially offered to men and women aged 60-69 years old, with more than 80% of cancers being detected in this age group. The Cancer Reform Strategy (2007) extended bowel screening to 70-74 year olds.

The roll out of FOBt in England required the NHS Bowel Screening Programme to take into account and help balance the increased workloads and pressures placed upon services providing diagnosis and treatment to all people with bowel cancer (not only those found through the screening programme) as well as consider the possible introduction of bowel scope which was then introduced eight years on.

In 2011 the UK NSC agreed for Bowel Scope Screening (BSS) to be offered to men and women at the time of their 55th birthday as an alternative and complementary bowel screening methodology to Faecal Occult Blood (FOBt). Evidence has shown that men and women aged 55-64 attending a one-off BSS test for bowel cancer can reduce their individual mortality from the disease by 43% (31% on a whole population basis) and reduce their individual incidence of bowel cancer by 33% (23% on a whole population basis)¹.

On 15 January 2016 the UK NSC announced the recommendation that Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) is used as the primary test for bowel cancer instead of the currently used FOB test. Ministers have accepted this recommendation and FIT will be implemented from April 2018.

Note:

¹ The Lancet, Volume 375, Issue 9726, Pages 1624 - 1633, 8 May 2010