Bowel cancer screening has now been expanded to adults over the age of 54, making hundreds of thousands more people eligible, NHS England has announced.
The FIT home testing kit is already made available through the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme to everyone aged 56 to 74.
It is estimated an extra 830,000 adults will now receive the home test through the post every two years.
The move is part of a phased rollout that will gradually mean everyone over the age of 50 will be sent a testing kit to check for blood in their stool.
People aged 54 years in London will be among the first places to be sent a home screening kit because of the low uptake rates, NHS England said.
Since the FIT kit was introduced into the screening programme in April 2019, national uptake has increased from 59.2% to 67.8%, said NHS England, with the kit being more convenient to use.
Bowel cancer is the third most common type of cancer with almost 43,000 cases in the UK each year and the NHS Long Term Plan committed to lowering the age of those eligible for home-testing kits to everyone aged 50 and above by 2025.
Earlier this year, a study reported that NHS screening for bowel cancer had reduced the incidence of cancer in the lower bowel in England by roughly 15%.
The UK researchers reported that the reduction was most pronounced among men and patients living in areas with highest deprivation levels.
Steve Russell, national director for vaccinations and screening at NHS England, said: ‘Lives are saved when cancers are caught early and this expansion of our bowel cancer screening programme to those aged 54 will help to spot signs of bowel cancer sooner, and potentially save thousands of lives.
‘We are seeing positive uptake of the home testing FIT kits, with over two thirds of those eligible returning their tests, but we want to see even more people taking up the offer.’
Dr Lisa Wilde, from Bowel Cancer UK, said: ‘This is fantastic news and a massive step towards screening from 50 in England.
‘Screening is one of the best ways to detect bowel cancer early and can often find it before symptoms develop.
‘It could save your life and we would encourage everyone to complete the test when they receive it.’
In July, NICE 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.
The diagnostic advisory committee estimated that this could lead to 50% fewer GP referrals for urgent colonoscopies every year, however it highlighted the importance of continuing to allow GPs to refer people without the required FIT result if they think it is necessary.
It’s 50-74 years in Australia for routine screening every 2 years. Has been for ages. The UK at various points in time bemoans the fact its cancer diagnosis and survival is below other European Countries.
Investing in this sort of thing rather than kowtowing to media pressure to make hideously expensive cancer treatments available that weren’t nice approved because they weren’t terribly effective a little over 10 years when the Government decided to top slice the CCG budgets by around 7%. You can’t expect people to die without hope. Am I saying I could allocate the NHS budget better? Improve overall health outcomes and the burden of disease? Yep.