ICL study finds single bowel screening test can reduce chances of developing cancer

Affecting over 250,000 people, bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK

Researchers from Imperial College London have revealed that a single screening test can reduce bowel cancer deaths by a quarter, as well as the chances of developing bowel cancer, for up to 21 years.

Published in The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the study was conducted by the Department of Surgery and Cancer’s Cancer Screening and Prevention Research Group and was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research and Cancer Research UK.

Currently the fourth most common cancer in the UK, affecting around 268,000 people, bowel cancer occurs when abnormal cells divide and grow in an uncontrolled way, affecting the large bowel.

The study involved 170,000 participants between the ages of 55 and 64, recruited from 1994 to 1999, who were randomly divided into two groups: 57,000 people invited for screening with a single flexible sigmoidoscopy screening (flexi-sig) test and 113,000 who were not invited, as part of the control group.

Involving a camera attached to a thin tube being passed through the bottom to look inside the bowel, the test removed polyps or small growths in the bowel that can develop into cancer in a less invasive way, in contrast to colonoscopy, another common bowel test.

After following up on the two groups and comparing them to determine whether the single flexi-sig reduced the risk of developing bowel cancer and dying from the disease, results showed that the single screening test reduced bowel cancer deaths by 25%, with protective effects lasting 21 years.

In addition, when looking at distal bowel cancers, there was a 41% reduction in the risk of developing this disease, as well as a 45% reduction in mortality from it.

Professor of cancer epidemiology, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Amanda Cross, commented: “Screening procedures hold immense potential to reduce cancer incidence and mortality.

“I hope that the data will contribute to the ongoing discussion around bowel cancer screening guidelines, emphasising the need for widespread implementation of effective screening programmes.”