A five-minute screening test could cut the risk of developing bowel cancer by a third and save thousands of lives from the UK’s second biggest cancer killer, according to new research led by Imperial College London.
The 16-year study led by Professor Wendy Atkin from the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial, showed that a single flexible sigmoidoscopy examination in men and women aged between 55 and 64 reduced the incidence of bowel cancer by a third, compared with a control group who had usual care. Screening with flexible sigmoidoscopy (named the ‘Flexi-Scope test’ by the research team) was particularly effective in the lower bowel,
where it halved incidence of the disease.
