National Bowel Cancer Screening Program

In May 2006, The Australian Commonwealth Government commenced the National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme for the early detection of bowel cancer, (www.cancerscreening.gov.au/bowel).  

Bowel cancer kills someone in Australia every two hours.   This is twice the road toll!  There are 12,500 bowel cancers diagnosed annually in Australia making it one of the most common cancers. Ninety Australians die each week from this disease.

The lifetime risk of bowel cancer is 1 in 20.

Bowel cancer has the potential to be detected early by faeces testing or colonoscopy. Early removal of a benign polyp (pre cancerous growth) , called a polypectomy , can be curable.  

The Commonwealth Government is offering A FREE human haemoglobin colon specific faecal occult blood test (FOBT) to assess for microscopic bleeding from possibly a bowel polyp (benign tumour) or even bowel cancer.   This will be only for people turning 50,55 and turning 65 years of age.   The results will be posted to the patient and to their usual GP. 

THIS SEEMS STRAIGHT FORWARD – BUT the offer will be phased in over ten years!!   Each year only 10% of the population in the age group 50 to 75 will receive the offer.  Of these, perhaps only half will agree to participate.   Those with positive faecal occult blood test (5-10%) will need colonoscopy.   Often no cause will be found for the positive FOBT. 

Those patients with a FOBT test that is negative will also need counselling because the FOBT may still miss up to 50% of cancers and polyps!   They will need at least another FOBT in a year or two’s time.  This second round of screening is planned in the National Bowel Cancer Screening for each person after two years, if they have not had a colonoscopy.

The Government has provided printed information to make things easier, but still patients may worry because they have not received the offer when their spouse has or they are outside the age group.   They may worry about the results.  

Colonoscopy is ultimately the most accurate test and some patients will prefer to have this performed every ten years.   This is often the case in the United States. Patients who do not have bowel related symptoms may have a positive faecal occult blood test a will require a colonoscopy to assess for a pre-cancerous bowel polyp or even early bowel cancer.

Please talk to us or your GP about a colonoscopy rather than an FOBT if you have a family history of bowel cancer or any bowel symptoms.

Hopefully this FOBT screening program can save several thousand lives by the early detection and treatment of this preventable disease.