Bowel Cancer Screening
Bowel cancer screening involves having tests to check if you have or are at risk of bowel cancer. Bowel cancer is a common type of cancer in both men and women. About 1 in 20 people will get it during their lifetime. Screening can help detect bowel cancer at an early stage, when it's easier to treat. It can also be used to help check for and remove small growths in the bowel called polyps, which can turn into cancer over time. There are 2 types of test used in NHS bowel cancer screening: If these tests find anything unusual, you might be asked to have further tests to confirm or rule out cancer. NHS bowel cancer screening is only offered to people aged 55 or over, as this is when you're more likely to get bowel cancer: If you're too young for screening but are worried about a family history of bowel cancer, speak to your GP for advice. Always see a GP if you have symptoms of bowel cancer at any age – don't wait to have a screening test. No screening test is 100% reliable. There's a chance a cancer could be missed, meaning you might be falsely reassured. There's also a small risk that the bowel scope screening test and some of the tests you might have if screening finds something unusual could damage your bowel, but this is rare. There are no risks to your health from the home testing kit.Why it's offered
Types of screening test
When it's offered
Risks of screening