Bowel cancer screening

Bowel cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer in Australia and around 80 Australians die each week from the disease. Bowel cancer can be treated successfully if detected in its early stages, but currently less than 40 per cent of bowel cancers are detected early. Bowel cancer is a major public health problem in Australia.

Bowel cancer can be treated successfully if detected in its early stages, however, fewer than 40% of bowel cancers are detected early. About the Bowel The bowel is part of the food digestive system. The function of the bowel is to finish digesting food by absorbing water and nutrients. Cancer of the large bowel is also known as colorectal cancer.

It starts on the inside wall of the bowel and can grow there for several years before spreading to other parts of the body. The colon and rectum together are known as the large bowel. It connects the stomach to the anus, where waste materials (called a bowel motion or faeces) are passed out of the body. Staging is determined by how far the cancer has penetrated through the bowel wall.

Stage I and II disease can be treated with surgery alone to remove the bowel and surrounding lymph nodes. There is strong evidence that physical activity protects against cancers including bowel and breast cancer. International randomised control trials have demonstrated that population screening for bowel cancer, using FOBTs, can reduce deaths from bowel cancer by 15-33%.

However, for most people it is their age and their diet that contribute to the development of bowel cancer. Screening, using a non-invasive test for blood in the faeces, is available through the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program to Australians who turn 50, 55 or 65 years of age. They have eliminated invasive breast cancers, deadly Ewing's Sarcoma, terminal thyroid cancer, bowel cancer and an array of skin cancers, even large melanomas. Convincing evidence shows that weight gain and obesity increases the risk of a number of cancers, including bowel and breast cancer. While no cancer is completely preventable, it is believed that eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly could prevent 66 to 75% of bowel cancer cases.