ALMOST three-quarters of Islanders have taken up invitations for a new type of screening for bowel cancer, a leading specialist has said.
Consultant gastroenterologist Dr David Ng said the new test, which uses samples collected at home and returned by post, was designed to be more convenient and help Jersey maintain a good record of early detection and treatment of bowel cancer.
The Faecal Immunochemical Test can help detect the presence of blood in stool samples, which is a potential indication of polyps – small growths in the bowel which in some cases may become cancerous.
FIT screening replaces the previous system in which a thin tube containing a camera, known as a flexi-sig, was inserted into the bowel of those being screened.
A total of 8,353 Islanders were invited for screening between the introduction of the flexi-sig initiative in 2013 and the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, with 63% of invitees making appointments. Dr Ng said that around 700 pre-cancerous polyps had been picked up as a result of this screening, as well as eight cases of bowel cancer, with all eight patients surviving their treatment as a result of early detection.
Dr Ng said that FIT screening was a better use of resources to combat a backlog in screening that had developed as a result of ‘business as usual’ being suspended during 2020 as a result of the pandemic.
FIT kits have been posted to Islanders in the aftermath of their 60th birthdays, with samples collected in a plastic tube and returned in a postage-paid envelope.
Dr Ng said that around 73% of those to have been sent FIT kits had returned samples so far, and that he hoped this figure would increase as Islanders became more aware of the programme.
‘It’s extremely easy to use these kits, without any need to make appointments, take time out of work or go through anything intrusive,’ he said.
The samples are analysed in the pathology laboratory at the General Hospital, with those whose sample showed positive results called with a view to a follow-up appointment.
The follow-up appointment would involve a colonoscopy procedure and typically take place within two weeks, with around 3% of those who had carried out FIT screening liable to have to attend a follow-up appointment.
The scope of the FIT screening programme is set to be expanded by the end of 2022, when all Islanders aged 55 to 65 will be invited to take tests every two years, and eventually widened further to include all those aged 55 to 73.
