Bowel cancer screening under way

The scheme will continue in the county for the next five years

Residents of Berkshire in their sixties are being invited to take part in a bowel cancer screening programme.

Letters are going out to everyone in the county aged 60 to 69, as part of a programme aiming to cut the number of people dying from the disease.

The overall chances of developing bowel cancer are one in 18 for men and one in 20 for women in the UK.

The programme, part of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, began in May and will continue for five years.

No symptoms

A programme spokesperson said 80% of people diagnosed with the cancer were in their sixties.

All those who are eligible for the screening programme will be contacted and testing kits will be sent to their home addresses.

All completed kits will be tested for the disease and patients with a positive result will be asked to attend a specialist centre in Surrey for further investigations.

If cleared, residents will be sent their results within a couple of days.

The programme aims to find bowel cancer at an early stage in people with no symptoms.