The English Bowel Cancer Screening Pilot, based in Coventry and North Warwickshire, invited men and women for screening until the pilot finished in March 2007.
The objective of the English Colorectal (Bowel) Screening Pilot was to assess the feasibility of introducing into the NHS a national screening programme for colorectal (bowel) cancer based on faecal occult blood testing. The pilot took place in two English health authorities and three Scottish health boards. The participants were men and women aged 50-69 years.
Results
478 250 residents of the pilot areas were invited to take part in the screening programme. Uptake (the proportion in whom a final faecal occult blood test result was available) was 56.8 per cent (n = 271 646). The overall rate of a positive test result was 1.9 per cent and the rate for detecting cancer was 1.62 per 1000 people screened. Both these values were higher in Scotland than in England, higher in men than in women, and increased with age. The positive predictive value was 10.9 per cent for cancer and 35.0 per cent for adenoma. 552 cancers were detected by screening; 92 (16.6 per cent) were polyp cancers. 48 per cent of all screen detected cancers were Dukes's stage A, and 1 per cent had metastasised at the time of diagnosis.
Following the pilot, the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme was introduced in England in July 2006.
- NHS BCSP home page
- Programme publications
- About bowel screening
- Why screen for bowel cancer?
- What is the purpose of bowel cancer screening?
- How is the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme organised?
- Who is eligible for bowel cancer screening?
- Age extension to bowel cancer screening
- How are GPs involved in bowel cancer screening?
- How much does bowel screening cost?
- How does the screening process work?
- What does my bowel cancer screening result mean?
- How does the FOB test work?
- What is a colonoscopy?
- What are the risks of colonoscopy?
- More information about the
screening programme- Who does what in the NHS BCSP?
- List of hubs and screening centres
- NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Evaluation Group
- Bowel cancer
- GP Pack (Information for primary care)
- NHS bowel cancer training centres in England
- The English Bowel Screening Pilot
- Evaluation of English Bowel Screening Pilot
- Evaluation of the second round of the English Bowel Screening Pilot
- Use of patient information
- Frequently asked questions
- Flexible sigmoidoscopy
- Programme news index
- Research in bowel cancer screening
- Useful links