Key Benefits

Colon Cancer Screening

For self pay and privately insured patients over 50 years of age via BMI Hospital Fawkham Manor we are now in position to offer interested patients immediate access to colon (large bowel) cancer screening.  Patient's carry out the initial part of the screen in the privacy of their own home in the form of a simple faecal occult blood stool test which detects tiny invisible amounts of blood.  If the test is positive they will then be offered a colonoscopy in order to detect bowel cancer and remove any polyps that are found.  If you are interested in being screened for bowel cancer please contact us at Fawkham Manor Hospital in order to make an appointment and receive the test kit  Contact details.  

It is important that you are aware that the stool test is just a screening test.   A screening test enables us to detect early evidence of bowel cancer before symptoms develop.  No screening test is 100% accurate.  So a positive FOB does not mean that you have cancer and a negative test does not mean that you do not.  However the FOB is a safe and simple way of deciding which patients without symptoms might benefit from further investigations.

Because the FOB test is just a screening test therefore it is important that you report any symptoms that could represent bowel cancer to your doctor or arrange an appointment to be seen in clinic in order to find out more.  If you have or develop symptoms of bowel cancer in the future then the FOB screening test is not for you.  Most likely you will need further investigations in any case if you are aged over 50 years of age.

Symptoms of bowel cancer include:

          a change in bowel habit (constipation or  diarrhoea) lasting over 6 weeks

the passage of blood via the back passage

colicky abdominal pain

anaemia (detected by blood test) leading to tiredness

unexplained weight loss

  To watch an interactive colonoscopy tutorial to learn more about this procedure visit  www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/.

Colon Cancer

It is so important to detect colon cancer early because it is a treatable and probably preventable condition.  So if you are over 50 and have symptoms please arrange to see your G.P. so that you can get tested.  Screening people for bowel cancer is very rewarding and you must not feel embarrassed or that you are wasting their time.  The last thing we or your G.P. would want is for you to ignore your symptoms until the cancer has spread because treatment becomes then very difficult.

Many people have a family history of cancer.  With conditions such as bowel or colorectal (large bowel) cancer (CRC) this can predispose to an increased risk of developing that malignancy.  In many countries population based screening protocols exist.  For example in the United States all those aged over 50 years or with any family history of CRC are offered screening.  

In the United Kingdom colonoscopic screening on the NHS is currently only available to those with affected two first degree relatives (parents, brothers, children) or where one such relative is diagnosed with colon cancer below the age of 45.  This causes a lot of anxiety and confusion because many people have a relative who has had bowel cancer in their 50s or older such as an uncle or a grandparent.  In this situation it is important to understand that the risks of having the colonoscopy are likely higher than the benefits and there is sadly no NHS funding for screening people without symptoms except in high risk groups.    

A UK population based screening program is expected to start in the near future for patients aged 60-69.  This will be based on stool testing or flexible sigmoidoscopy followed by colonoscopy if positive.  Visit www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/bowel/ to learn more about this exciting new development.  If you are lucky enough to be invited to join the NHS Screening Programme please don't hesitate.  It is a fantastic development and I thoroughly recommend it.  

Private and self pay patients in the UK aged over 50 can opt to undergo either faecal occult blood testing every 2 years or colonoscopy every 10 years as long as they understand the risks and benefits of this approach to screening for this important and common condition.  In fact a single colonoscopy in one's fifties is said to dramatically reduce the risk of bowel cancer for the next 10 years and even longer!

Colonoscopy is a complete camera examination of the bowel and allows for the removal of polyps once detected.  There is however a one in 1,000 risk of complications so it is important that any screening program is carefully designed to still provide benefit despite this slight risk.  

Barium enema is an X ray test using air and X ray dye inserted via the back passage to allow pictures of the bowel to be taken to exclude large tumours.

Virtual colonoscopy is a non-invasive high resolution CT scan which is highly accurate for the detection of larger polyps and tumours within the colon.  It involves X ray radiation which means it is not ideal for screening and does not allow for biopsies or for the removal of polyps at the time of the procedure.  It will not identify flat polyps which can only be found at colonoscopy.  However it is safe with a very low complication rate.

Polypectomy is in fact the key benefit of colonoscopy for many people.  By identifying and removing asymptomatic polyps a real reduction in the risk of colon cancer is achieved.  If otherwise left alone  the polyp shown below will grow eventually into a cancer. Image taken from the Gastrolab Archive link

To watch a selection of video tutorials explaining these procedures please visit this fantastic website http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/