The first step in extending bowel cancer screening to all over 50s was taken today following an unprecedented public interest in tackling the disease.
Some 830,000 people aged 58 are to receive faecal immunochemical tests, NHS England said.
Public awareness of the disease has risen following the campaigning and death of the schoolteacher, the late Dame Deborah James, NHS England says.
Data published this week showed that between May and July some 170,000 people were referred for investigation of suspected lower gastro-intestinal cancer. This was 30,000 more than last year and 80,000 more than two years ago.
National Clinical Director for Cancer Professor Peter Johnson said: “The risk factors of bowel cancer are well researched with age, diet, family history as well as smoking and drinking habits all found to influence the likelihood of developing the illness, but we also know that it can also occur outside of these risks and I continue to urge anyone worried about symptoms to come forward and speak to their GP.”
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “Deborah’s honesty and humour has changed the conversation around cancer and she’s undoubtedly had a huge impact on raising awareness.
“We saw an increase of 120% to our bowel cancer information pages the day after she passed away, compared to the day before. We hope that the impact of this increased awareness of the disease will be felt for years to come.”
Professor Johnson added: “We are expanding the bowel cancer screening programme in a phased approach to make sure we can diagnose bowel cancer as early as possible, often before symptoms appear – potentially saving thousands of lives with a simple and convenient test.”
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