Screening programme at Tallaght hospital uncovers disease in 38 of the participants
ONE-FIFTH of those who were diagnosed with cancer during a bowel cancer screening programme run by Dublin’s Tallaght hospital over the past two years were found to have an advanced stage of the disease even though they had no symptoms.
The results of the screening programme, released yesterday, show 38 of the people who took part were diagnosed with cancer. Of those, eight were found to have an advanced form of cancer.
A total of 5,000 people took part in the programme. Ninety nine people were found to have benign polyps which had the potential to turn cancerous if not removed.
Another 55 patients had hyperplastic polyps but these are considered unlikely to become malignant, bringing the total number of patients diagnosed with polyps or bowel cancer to 192 and the total diagnosed with pre-cancerous tumours or bowel cancer to 137.
Of the 38 patients diagnosed with bowel cancer, all are still alive and some are now undergoing treatment. While 79 per cent of these had early- stage disease, 21 per cent had advanced disease which would otherwise have gone undetected.
Prof Colm O’Morain, consultant gastroenterologist at Tallaght hospital and Dean of Health Sciences at Trinity College Dublin, said the findings highlighted the importance of a national bowel cancer screening programme as it saved lives.
A national bowel cancer screening programme has been promised by Minister for Health Mary Harney but it is not due to start until 2012.
Some 10,000 men and women between the ages of 50 and 74 years were offered free bowel cancer screening through the programme operated by Tallaght hospital. Just over half of them took up the offer.
Participants were sent screening kits which they could use in their own homes. They had to provide samples of bowel movements which were then analysed for traces of blood. If blood was detected, they were offered a colonoscopy.
Marie Barnes, a participant in the programme who was diagnosed with early-stage cancer, said: “I had no signs or symptoms, nothing. I was the perfect candidate for cancer without even knowing it. I thought I had the perfect bowel. If it wasn’t for the bowel screening programme, I would have never known. I owe my life to them.”
While uptake of the Tallaght bowel cancer screening programme was just 51 per cent, the organisers say this is encouraging as it was not supported by a public awareness campaign.
In general, participation rates were lower among men and socially deprived groups.
Prof O’Morain said it was estimated that practically all colorectal cancer can be prevented or cured if early-stage cancers are detected and removed.
He hopes to repeat the screening programme over the next two years among the same population cohort.
He said a higher percentage of bowel movements tested positive for traces of blood than had been expected. Some 10 per cent were positive compared with the 6 per cent expected in the planned national screening programme.