29. December 2008 16:59
Bowel cancer screening is predicted to save over two and a half thousand lives every year in the UK by 2025, according to new research published in the Journal of Medical Screening*.
The Cancer Research UK funded study, which looked at the impact home testing kits could have on mortality rates, showed that deaths from bowel cancer are set to drop by around 16 per cent.
By 2025, the numbers of lives that are expected to be saved in the UK each year is between 2200 and 2700.
The faecal occult blood testing kit tests for traces of blood in peoples' stools, which can be an early sign of bowel cancer. Detecting the early signs of the disease significantly increases the chance of survival - four out of five people diagnosed at an early stage recover.
The researchers used a computer simulation model - based on mortality and incidence rates between 1975 and 2004 and the number of people that attended screening in early trials - to see the impact that the screening programme would have over the next 20 years.
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