Bowel cancer screening programme expanded in Northamptonshire to over 50s

A bowel cancer screening programme that helps detect cancers and pre-cancerous growths has now been extended to patients over 50 in Northamptonshire.

The screening expansion is being delivered by the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire – which is composed of Kettering and Northampton general hospitals – and is part of national plans to roll out screening in stages to all patients over 50 by 2025.

From October 31, in Northamptonshire, all 50 and 52-year-olds registered with GPs have been added to the screening programme.

So, this means that now everyone in Northamptonshire between the ages of 50 - 74 will be invited to complete a Bowel Screening FIT (Faecal Immunochemistry Test) stool kit every two years with individuals who receive their kit posting a sample to a testing lab.

If the test is positive – indicating blood in the stool - the person will be invited for assessment with a Specialist Screening Practitioner at either Kettering or Northampton General Hospital to assess their suitability for onward investigation, normally colonoscopy.

Screening Director for Northamptonshire, Dr Andy Dixon, said: “Bowel screening is an excellent way of detecting cancer early and gives doctors a much better chance of treating serious conditions like cancer effectively.

“To enable this expansion we have worked collaboratively between Kettering and Northampton general hospitals to carry out additional endoscopy lists to check for cancers and we have expanded our screening team to enable the higher volume of work to be carried out.”

Youngest screening patient urges you to do the test after his cancer was found early

Stephen Ball has become the youngest patient to have had bowel cancer detected in the screening programme in Northamptonshire.

Mr Ball, who is married to Julie, and has two children, Oliver, 27, and Georgia, 26, was aged 54 when he took the stool sample screening test back in May.

It came back positive and he went on to have a colonoscopy camera examination at KGH which detected a small lesion in his bowel. This was tested and found to be an early stage cancer.

In July he then had key-hole surgery and a bowel resection to remove the cancer and will now probably need no further treatment.

Mr Ball, regional manager for a land surveying company, from Long Buckby, said: “It hits you hard when you have a cancer diagnosis and at first you think the worst.

“But my cancer was so small it didn’t show up on a CT scan and it was caught at a very early stage and removed, which is the best thing that can happen.

“It shows how important it is to do your stool test when it comes through the post and to get yourself checked-out so you have peace of mind. It is so easy to do and only takes a few minutes.

“If you don’t you could go for years with a problem you don’t know about.”

Dr Dixon said the good news is bowel cancer is a cancer which is treatable and curable - especially if diagnosed early.

He said: “Nearly everyone survives bowel cancer if diagnosed at the earliest stage. However this drops significantly as the disease develops. Early diagnosis really does save lives and it is very important to take part in screening.

“It will give you peace of mind and – in the unlikely event it detects a problem – it will help you get the treatment you need as soon as possible.”

Since its launch in 2008 the local programme has carried out 14,390 colonoscopy camera examinations and 446 colonograms (an alternative to colonoscopy).

It has detected some 1,302 cancers and removed more than 24,000 polyps – growths which can be the precursor to bowel cancer.

How screening is carried out

People aged over 50 – who are registered with a GP – in Northamptonshire will receive a screening invitation through the post and then be sent a testing pack.

The pack includes a small sealable container in which they can give a stool sample which is then sent off to a regional screening laboratory.

If there is an indication of a possible problem (eg blood found in the stool) people are invited to Kettering or Northampton general hospital for an assessment which may be followed by a colonoscopy examination.

This involves using a thin flexible tube called an endoscope, which has a camera capacity, to examine their bowel.

More than nine out of ten new cases of bowel cancer (94%) are diagnosed in people over the age of 50. https://www.bowelcanceruk.org.uk/about-bowel-cancer/bowel-cancer/

One in 15 men and 1 in 18 women will be diagnosed with bowel cancer during their lifetime. It is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths, with over 16,800 people dying from it each year.

Around 98 in 100 people will receive a normal result and will be returned to routine screening. They will be invited for bowel cancer screening every two years if still within the eligible age range.

Around 2 in 100 people will receive an abnormal result. They will be referred for further investigation and they will usually offered a colonoscopy.

Regular bowel cancer screening has been shown to reduce the risk of dying from bowel cancer by 16 per cent.