Cancer test breakthrough hailed

Published on Saturday 15 November 2008 18:42

THE first patients are receiving early treatment for bowel cancer after their condition was detected by a new national screening programme.

The condition was detected before the patients were even aware they had the potentially deadly disease, which means their treatment is likely to be less radical and more successful than if the cancer had been discovered at a later stage.

The 19 patients, from NHS Lothian, are the first in Scotland to have benefited from the new national screening programme, aimed at cutting the number of people dying from one of Scotland's biggest killers.

The health board was one of the first in Scotland to launch the screening programme in May 2008.

Over the next two years, Scots aged between 50 and 74 will be screened for the bowel cancer using postal testing kits.

Dr Dermot Gorman, who is leading the new screening programme for Lothian, said: "Our experience of the first few months of the programme in Lothian show it's paying off. Catching cancer early is of huge importance in subsequent successful treatment. I would urge anyone who receives a postal testing kit to please protect themselves by following the instructions and returning their sample as soon as they can.

" The test is easy to do and this screening programme will continue to save lives."

Internal monitoring of the programme by NHS Lothian shows 19 people are now being treated because they took part in screening.

If they had not been screened it is likely they would remained unaware of their condition until the cancer had developed, causing obvious symptoms such as blood in faeces.