Category: News

NICE DG56 vs. NICE DG30

Updates to FIT Guidance In August 2023 NICE published updated guidance on ‘Quantitative faecal immunochemical testing (FIT)’ to guide colorectal cancer pathway referral in primary care. This update expands and clarifies the previous recommendations, based on the extensive clinical evidence that has accumulated since DG30 was originally published, back in July 2017. What are the

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NICE recommends GPs use FIT test for all suspected colorectal cancer patients

In article published in PULSE outlining the possible changes to the NICE guidelines regarding FIT in Primary Care. “NICE has recommended that GPs use FIT tests to triage all patients with signs or symptoms of colorectal cancer in a bid to reduce colonoscopy waiting times. In draft guidance that has been released for consultation today,

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Partnership with the NHS Award Winners!

We are thrilled to announce that Alpha Laboratories has won the award for ‘Partnership with the NHS’ at the MediWales Innovation Awards 2021. The award was achieved for the work with the Clinical Biochemistry team at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board in Merthyr Tydfil, where Alpha Laboratories was the industry partner in their successful

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Northern Ireland FIT Bowel Cancer Screening

Faecal Immunochemical Test sees bowel screening uptake increase in Scotland – Update from CRUK

“New statistics published in Scotland have shown that before the COVID-19 pandemic, uptake of bowel screening had increased. This is good news and largely due to the introduction of the faecal immunochemical test (FIT), which is easier to complete. These statistics, published by Public Health Scotland, show that 63% of those invited to take a

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Scottish Bowel Screening Programme Restarts After Pandemic Lockdown

The Scottish Bowel Screening Programme formally restarts on the 12th October following a brief suspension due to the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. Bowel Cancer is highly treatable if caught early, and bowel screening is an incredibly effective, and quick, way to help find bowel cancer early. Read Bowel Cancer UK’s update here

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The NICE FIT Study is awarded the ACPGBI BJS Prize

Congratulations to Nigel D’Souza and the NICE FIT Study Team for winning the ACPGBI BJS Prize, for their work on FIT in symptomatic patients. The NICE FIT study was funded by NHS England to investigate whether the FIT (faecal immunochemical test) could be used to exclude bowel cancer in our population in England. To find

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Navigating the storm of COVID‐19 for patients with suspected bowel cancer

Correspondence to the BJS Society from Mr. Nigel D’Souza and Mr. Muti Abulafi regarding the use of FIT in the colorectal cancer two-week-wait (2WW) pathway, during the COVID-19 pandemic. With limitations on endoscopy resources during the pandemic, the authors outline the importance of appropriate triaging to alleviate the burden on endoscopy resource, whilst achieving maximum

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Transition to quantitative faecal immunochemical testing – A paper from the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme

Read this paper from the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme on the transition from guaiac based Faecal Occult Blood tests (gFOBT) to faecal immunochemical testing (FIT) in the Screening population. The authors conclude; “Transition to FIT from FOBT produced higher uptake and positivity with lower PPV for CRC and higher PPV for adenoma”. Read the paper

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Using Relay UK to Make the Bowel Cancer Screening Helpline More Accessible

One of Public Health England (PHE) Screening’s objectives is to reduce inequalities and overcome barriers to screening. One way we can do this is to promote the Relay UK service. Click Here to Read the Article from Public Health England

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Not FIT for the bin – the importance of bowel screening

A blog from Katy Parker, a PHE Screening helpdesk advisor, about the importance of the Bowel Screening test after her father, who sadly passed away after a short battle with Bowel Cancer, admitted to having never done the test. Read the full blog post from Public Health Screening

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