While bowel cancer mortality is decreasing, Bowel Cancer UK argues that further lives could be saved by improving early screening of high risk patients, targeting research gaps and ensuring MDT involvement in decision-making for patients with advanced bowel cancer.
Bowel cancer is the UK’s second biggest cancer killer with 16,000 people dying from the disease; and the fourth most common cancer with more than 41,200 people diagnosed each year. Globally, 694,000 people die from bowel cancer and 1.4 million people are diagnosed every year. However, there have been significant efforts in recent years aimed at improving detection and survival, including screening. Mortality from bowel cancer has decreased by 42% in the UK since the early 1970s, and by 12% in the last decade (Cancer Research UK figures).
Nevertheless, further efforts are required to increase early diagnosis and improve take-up of screening, in order to decrease the number of people presenting as emergency cases. Patients diagnosed through the National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme are more likely to be diagnosed at an early stage of bowel cancer, leading to better outcomes.
National Bowel Cancer Audit
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