“A bowel cancer screening programme in England is on course to
cut deaths by a sixth,” the BBC has reported. The story goes on
to say, however, that there is concern “that the programme
misses tumours in certain parts of the colon”. This story is
based on analysis of the first round of England’s Bowel Cancer
Screening Programme, which was introduced in 2006. Screening
programmes are designed to test for signs of a disease among
people without symptoms. They can often detect diseases early,
allowing treatment to be given at a stage when it is more likely
to be effective at improving outcomes and lowering the risk of
death. The screening programme invites people between the ages
of 60 and 69 to participate, by giving them home faeces sampling
kits that can be posted to a lab to check for traces of blood.
Those who screen positive at this stage are then invited to
undergo further diagnostic tests. To date, the programme has
invited about 2 million people to participate, with around half
accepting and returning a