New screening and early detection could help stop cancer deaths in Cumbria

NHS bosses have given the green light for a procedure known as a bowel scope to be rolled out across England over the next three years.

The scheme which will be available to adults over 55 involves the threading of a tiny camera into the lower intestine. It is thought this simple method could reduce cancer deaths by one third.

This development could be a lifeline for patients in Cumbria. National figures show that people in the South Lakes have a higher than average chance to develop bowel cancer.

Statistics from Cancer Research UK show between 2012-14, 81 people per 100,000 were diagnosed with bowel cancer in the south Lakes annually; higher than the national average of 71 per 100,000.

Cumbria County Council is aware of this figure and has been working in partnership with Public Health England to campaign for regular cancer screening.

Packs have been made available for the public to collect a sample at home, and post it off to be tested. This move came after it emerged in Cumbria, two out of five men aged over 55 do not get themselves checked for bowel cancer.

Colin Cox, Cumbria County Council’s director of public health, said: "The uptake figures are worrying and tell us that many in the at risk group are leaving it to chance. We hope this latest campaign will help raise awareness of the need for those aged 60-74 to take part in screening.

"Symptoms can be subtle and don't necessarily make people feel ill, making it easy for the cancer to go unnoticed. Therefore the best course of action is for those at risk to take the simple test at home and return it."

Find out how just a few small changes could cut your risk of cancer. They could just save your life.

The bowel scope procedure is a new weapon for doctors to detect cancer early, and prevent unnecessary deaths.

It works by threading a tiny camera attached to a thin flexible tube into the lower part of the bowel. As well as detecting tumours, it helps spot small growths, called polyps, on the bowel wall.

If left untreated polyps can become cancerous, and any found during a bowel scope can usually be removed there and then. Bowel scope will not detect bowel cancers higher up in the bowel and people may need a colonoscopy if they have symptoms that will not go away.

But the research found the new test was able to prevent 35 per cent of bowel cancers overall, and prevent 40 per cent of deaths. In the lower bowel, the test prevented more than half of potential bowel cancers from developing in that area.

There are an estimated 41,000 new cases of bowel cancer in England every year; more than 15,000 of the people who are diagnosed will die.

In Cumbria 27 people per 100,000 will die of bowel cancer. This is the same as the national average, but it is lower than nearby NHS trusts in North Lancashire (28 per 100,000) and central Manchester (36 per 100,000).

Professor Wendy Atkin, Cancer Research UK's bowel screening expert and lead research author at Imperial College London, said: "Although no screening test is perfect, this study shows that bowel scope is effective in reducing cancer deaths for at least 17 years.

"Bowel cancer can be prevented. And the bowel scope screening test is a great way to reduce the number of people diagnosed with the disease so it's vital that no one misses out on the opportunity to get the test."

This development comes in the same week it was revealed that new cases of cancer in England are the highest on record.

Information from the Office for National Statistics showed in 2015 there were 299,923 cancer diagnoses registered.

This is roughly translated to around 800 new cases every day.

Much like innovations like the bowel scope, cancer experts are urging people to take preventative measure to cut down their risk of cancer.

Caroline Moye, head of the World Cancer Research Fund, said: "With around half of cancer cases being attributed to some of the most preventable cancers, it is more important than ever to take cancer prevention seriously.

"Cancer cases are predicted to continue to rise; however, this doesn't need to be the case. About a third of the most common cancers could be prevented by eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight and doing more physical activity. That's around 80,000 cancer cases a year."

Even though bowel cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer, the perception that is it an embarrassing condition could be costing people their lives.

The reluctance to speak about bowel conditions is one of the taboos health experts are trying to break.

Dr Colin Brown, clinical director, Cumbria and Morecambe Bay Bowel Cancer Screening Centre, said: "Sometimes bowel problems and symptoms can seem a bit embarrassing but we encourage anyone affected to discuss their concerns with their GP at an early stage and not ignore symptoms for many months or years.

"Anyone over 40 years of age who has experienced rectal bleeding, changes in bowel habit or looser bowels or diarrhoea lasting more than six weeks should see their GP. It gives us a much better chance of spotting cancer earlier. Everyone registered with a GP and aged between 60 and 75 years will be invited for screening on a two yearly basis. If individuals are over the age of 75 they can opt into the Bowel Cancer Screening programme and request a kit by ringing the free telephone number 0800 707 60 60."

Bowel scope could cut the number of deaths cause by bowel cancer by up to forty per cent. Based on the figures from 2015, this would result in 6,400 fewer deaths every year.

Dr Brown said early detection was paramount in combating the disease.

He said: "Over the last eight years our centre has performed almost 4,500 colonoscopy tests within the screening programme and detected over 432 bowel cancers, with about half of these at an early stage. This gives patients a much better chance of survival. In addition we have removed 565 high risk polyps, 838 intermediate risk polyps and 1,283 low risk polyps totalling 2686 polyps that could have potentially developed into cancer.

"Bowel cancer can be successfully treated in over 90% of cases if it is diagnosed at an early stage, it is now the fourth most common cause of cancer deaths in the UK."

Although the figures can appear bleak, survival rates for cancer are higher than they have ever been, 50 per cent ten years after diagnosis.

Increased awareness of the causes and treatment of cancers has spread throughout the public, with people becoming more aware of the warning signs.

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "Cancer survival is at its highest rate ever, but more must be done. We are investing £300 million a year by 2020 to increase diagnostic capacity for all cancers, so we can save more from this devastating disease."

Councillor Ian Stewart, county council member for public health has a personal reason for making sure everyone in the county can be spared from such an illness.

He said: "For me this is personal as in 1991 my father-in-law died of bowel cancer. He might have lived if the opportunity to check that we now have was available at that time.

"When the opportunity comes to me, I'm going to take it. Join me in taking this test, and let's all live longer."