Bowel cancers not spotted early enough

A charity has warned that too many people in England are dying from bowel cancer because the disease is being spotted too late.

The charity, Beating Bowel Cancer, found that there was a substantial variation between NHS regions in diagnosing the disease, and said that 3,200 lives could be saved every year if all regions performed as well as the best achieving areas.

In some areas, less than a third of cases are diagnosed before the disease has begun to spread around the body.

Early detection is vital and the problem is partly due to people not coming forward for checks. Figures show that uptake among the 60 to 74 year age group has been around the 60% mark, despite a screening programme being introduced in 2006.

If the cancer is detected at the earliest possible stage, the chance of survival is 97%, whereas people who are diagnosed with the disease in its advanced stages have a 7% chance of living for a further five years.

Mark Flanagan, chief executive of Beating Bowel Cancer, said “It’s unacceptable that there are CCGs in England that diagnose less than one in three patients at an early stage.

“If they all performed as well as the best, thousands of lives could be saved and millions of pounds could be freed up to be used for other bowel cancer treatments, which patients are frequently told are unaffordable.

“This will require further improvements in screening, renewed efforts to raise awareness of signs and symptoms, and investment to support improvements in GP performance in investigating and referring patients appropriately.”

Each year, about 41,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK, and around 16,000 die of the disease.

Nick Ormiston-Smith from Cancer Research UK, said “There are a number of reasons why cancer may be diagnosed at an advanced stage – for some cancers, symptoms are often only noticeable once the tumour has already started to spread. But for many others there are chances for the cancer to be picked up earlier.

“It’s vital that people are aware of their body and if they notice anything unusual they should visit their GP.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk ), Medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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