A SCREENING programme to detect bowel cancer has helped thousands of Ashbourne people in a new age group just a few months after it was introduced.
With Derbyshire being one of the first counties in the UK to extend its bowel cancer screening programme to 70 to 74-year-olds, 61.4 per cent of people have took up the offer across Derbyshire.
In this age group, the number of people with a positive result was noticeably higher than in the 60 to 69 age group.
Compared with the lower age group’s rate of 1.6 per cent, 3.1 per cent tested positive. However, this is said to be expected, according to cancer screening specialists, as the chances of getting bowel cancer increases with age.
Many are diagnosed at the earliest stage of the disease when the chance of being cured is more than 80 per cent.
People use the kits to take small samples of three bowel movements in the privacy of their own home.
These kits are then posted back to the hospital, where they are sent to the laboratory and analysed to detect tiny traces of blood which could be an early symptom of the cancer.
These kits help to find cancer before any symptoms appear. For every 100 home screening samples returned around two are found to be abnormal.
The results from the tests do not diagnose bowel cancer but can show if further examination is needed.
Anyone aged 75 or over can request a kit by calling 0800 707 6060.
For more information on the screening process and treatments for bowel cancer, visit www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/bowel
