Screening is aimed at people with no symptoms but who are most at risk of developing bowel disease. Regular testing ensures that as soon as any signs of bowel disease begin to develop, patients can be prioritised for further investigation and treatment.
| Bowel Screening Programme |
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|
|
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| Screening Age | 54-74* | 50-74 | 50-74 | 60-74 |
| Frequency | 2 yearly On request from 75 |
2 yearly |
2 yearly | 2 yearly |
*The programme in England is expanding to make it available to everyone aged 50 to 59 years, using a phased approach.
Patients that begin to show bowel disease symptoms are advised to contact their GP, even if they have received a negative result as part of the screening programme.
Alpha Laboratories proudly supports and supplies FIT for the Bowel Cancer Screening programmes in:
- Scotland
- Wales
- Northern Ireland
Ensuring that patients can receive these life-saving tests and be assured that their results are accurate and reliable.
The History of Bowel Cancer Screening
Screening programmes originally used the guaiac based Faecal Occult Blood Test (gFOBt), to look for hidden blood in faeces. The test was sent to the participant’s home and required them to smear two small samples of poo, onto a test card, three times a week.
However, in recent years the diagnostic technology has greatly improved, with the introduction of the faecal immunochemical test (FIT). Scotland was the first of the four programmes to replace gFOBT with FIT, with the first invites for screening using the new test sent out in November 2017.
The Benefits of FIT for Bowel Cancer Screening
- Detects intact haemoglobin and early degradation products using monoclonal/polyclonal antibodies to globin
- Greater clinical sensitivity
- Detects more adenomas
- Easier to collect the faecal sample using a method that is more acceptable to people invited for screening, promoting increased uptake
- No diet or drug interferences
- More specific for lower GI bleeding
- Easier analysis using a single sample tested on automated systems
- Advocated in many publications and most new guidelines
- Users can select cut off for age, gender, colonoscopy resources
