FOBT (Faecal Occult Blood Test)

Half of people invited to bowel screening for the first time in 2015 didn’t take part, according to the latest figures from Cancer Research UK

The UK National Screening Committee has proposed changes to existing screening programmes for bowel and cervical cancer.

Almost 40 per cent of people who have abnormal results from bowel cancer screening tests ignore their next screening invitation two years later.

70 per cent of people send back at least one bowel screening test kit, but only around 40 per cent return kits consistently.

Britons want a recommendation from the NHS on whether to attend bowel cancer screening, along with all the information on benefits and risks, according to research published in the British Journal of Cancer today.

Bowel cancer rates in 60 to 69 year olds went up by more than 12 per cent in England from 2006 to 2008, according to the latest figures from Cancer Research UK.

Affluent people are 50 per cent more likely to take part in bowel cancer screening than their deprived counterparts, according to a study published in the British Journal of Cancer (BJC)*.