Please refresh the page and retry. M edics are calling for bowel cancer screening to be introduced at the age of 45 after a sharp rise in younger people being diagnosed with the disease.
The study of 21 western countries, published by the Lancet, found that in the UK, rates of the disease are rising by 1. And separate research involving more than million adults found that across Europe, cases are rising by more than seven per cent a year among those in their 20s and 30s.
Experts said soaring levels of obesity, driven by unhealthy lifestyles, appeared to be driving the trend. They urged health officials to bring down the age of screening to 45, in line with US advice, in order to detect cases earlier, when disease is more likely to be preventable.
The NHS is currently piloting checks from the age of 55 in some areas, while in others, screening is not offered until the age of Officials have said they intend to lower the age to In Scotland it is offered from the age of 50, while in Wales it starts at 60, and in Northern Ireland it starts at One, published in the Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology journal, looked at colon and rectal cancer rates in developed countries such as the UK, New Zealand, Canada and Denmark.
A second study, published in the GUT journal, found between and the number of younger people diagnosed with bowel cancer had risen at a steeper rate after Among 20 to year-olds, bowel cancer incidence rose from 0. Among those in their 30s, a rise of 6. Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK with almost 42, people diagnosed every year. Around , people living in the UK today have been told they have bowel cancer, while one in 15 of all men and one in 18 women will be diagnosed during their lifetime.
