Approximately one in 20 people will develop bowel cancer during their lifetime. It is the third most common cancer in the UK and the second most common cause of cancer deaths. Over 16,000 people die from bowel cancer each year. This doesn’t have to be the case however.

Lyn is backing the campaign to encourage people to learn the symptoms of Bowel Cancer and to take up screening tests offered by the NHS.

The NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme began in July 2006. Screening tests are currently being sent out to men and women aged between 60 and 69. The programme aims to achieve nationwide coverage by the end of this year. Through the screening programme, bowel cancer can be detected in its early stages, in people experiencing no symptoms. If bowel cancer is discovered at this stage, treatment is far more likely to be effective.

Currently, over half of all men who receive the test however, do not use it. Through raising awareness of bowel cancer and the NHS screening programme, hopefully this will change.

Lyn Brown MP said,

“My own family has been touched quite significantly by cancer and I am all too aware of the anguish that it causes and the impact that it has.

Bowel Cancer can be a debilitating illness yet it is both preventable and curable. It is crucial therefore, that people are aware of the symptoms and understand the importance of screening.”

If you would like more information on bowel cancer and the NHS screening programme please visit www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/bowel. If you are over 70 and would like to request a screening test, please call 0800 707 60 60.