Screening Can Cut Bowel Cancer Deaths

A national screening program in Britain to detect bowel cancer could save lives but the government must make sure there are enough trained staff to ensure it runs efficiently, a cancer expert said on Wednesday.

“Over the past 15 years dramatic reductions in incidence rates of bowel cancer in the United States have been attributed to screening,” Dr Wendy Atkin, of St Mark’s Hospital in London, told a science conference. “During the same period in the UK incidence rates have remained unchanged in women and have even increased in men.” Bowel cancer is now the second highest cause of cancer death in Britain and the government has been considering introducing a screening system to detect the disease early when it is most treatable. A national screening program is expected to be introduced within the next five years. Atkin said she has no doubt that the program will reduce deaths from the disease but said it is essential that the state-funded National Health Service (NHS) can cope with it. Britain is considering two screening options for the program, Atkin told a meeting of the charity Cancer Research UK. One test will detect hidden blood in the stool, which can be an early sign of the cancer, and another is a more invasive method, to look for precancerous growths in the lower part of the bowel. Trained staff to conduct the tests are in short supply, according to Atkin. She found wide variations in detection rates in a study in trial centers testing for precancerous growths. “Making sure that the NHS is ready for the implementation of a bowel screening program in terms of staffing, resources and access to services should be a high priority for the government,” Atkin told the meeting. (Source: Reuters Health News: May 2004)