UP TO 500 lives would be saved every year if Australia introduced a biennial bowel cancer screening program for 50 to 74-year-olds, a study has found.
Australia’s existing program offers screening for people when they turn 50, 55 and 65 but the Federal Government is refusing to say whether it will continue to be funded in this year’s Budget.
Researchers writing in the latest Medical Journal of Australia say the program should be extended to offer screening with a faecal occult blood test every two years once people turn 50.
Their study estimates such a program would cost $150 million a year, but anticipates about half this amount would be saved through a reduced incidence of cancer and savings from the high cost of treating advanced bowel cancer.
By comparison, breast cancer screening costs about $120 million a year in Australia.
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Study author Michael Pignone of the University of North Carolina, who researched the issue during a six-month Australian-American Health Policy Fellowship, said it would save between 300 and 500 lives a year compared with no screening.
The estimates rely on a participation rate of 40 per cent , or about a million people being screened a year.
If the test picked up traces of blood, a colonoscopy would be recommended.
Professor Pignone said the program was expected to generate about 75,000 colonoscopies annually.
Colorectal surgeon Russell Stitz said population screening for bowel cancer significantly decreased the rate of death from the disease.
“It’s an ideal cancer for screening,” he said. “It’s eminently curable if it’s caught at an early stage.”
Although he backed calls for the introduction of a biennial screening program, Prof Stitz warned faecal occult blood testing had a false negative rate and people still needed to consult a doctor if they developed symptoms.
He said symptoms included changes in bowel habits, bleeding and stomach pains.
Those with a family history of bowel cancer were advised to have five-yearly colonoscopies, or one every three years if they were found to have pre-cancerous polyps.
A spokeswoman for Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the Government recognised early detection by screening remained the best way to fight bowel cancer.
She said the Government would consider future funding for screening as part of the next Budget.
Janelle Miles
The Courier-Mail