bowel cancer test kit nhs

Polyps are growths in the bowel. You need to be registered with a GP to receive your screening invitations.

Nhs Bowel Cancer Screening Test Kit Stock Photo Alamy

You use a home test kit called a faecal immunochemical test FIT to collect a small sample of poo and send it to a lab.

. Bowel cancer screening learn about the NHS bowel screening programme and the importance of taking part Awards and testimonials In an average year we provide approximately 300 bowel cancer awareness talks to organisations throughout the UK reaching over 3000 people. So far a lot of the research has been in people who have already been diagnosed with cancer. A blood test that has the potential to detect over 50 kinds of cancer is now being trialled in the NHS in England. The screening programmes send a bowel cancer testing kit every 2 years to people who can take part.

Public Health England Published 1 April 2013 Last updated 17 August 2021 See all. To detect cases of bowel cancer sooner everyone aged 60 to 74 who is registered with a GP and lives in England is automatically sent a bowel cancer screening home test kit every 2 years. Instructions on how to use the home test kit provided by the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme BCSP. If youre 75 or over you can ask for a kit every 2 years by phoning the free bowel cancer screening helpline on 0800 707 60 60.

A short animation that explains how to use the FIT kit is available in English British Sign Language and subtitled versions in English and 10 other languages. This is checked for tiny amounts of blood. Blood can be a sign of polyps or bowel cancer. The Galleri blood test developed by the company GRAIL aims to detect cancers earlier by looking for abnormal DNA shed from cancer cells into the blood.

Its available to everyone aged 60 or over and 56 year olds. If you have a family history of bowel cancer you may need to have bowel screening at an earlier age. Bowel screening aims to find cancer early or to find changes in your bowel that could lead to cancer. Having NHS Bowel Screening Bowel cancer screening is a way of finding bowel cancer at an early stage before it causes symptoms.

NHS bowel cancer screening checks if you could have bowel cancer. Going to hospital with a problem such as bowel obstruction This is when part of the bowel becomes blocked.