To help you to decide whether to take part in the bowel screening programme, the main benefits and disadvantages are listed here.
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ABOUT CANCER > SCREENING > BOWEL SCREENING > PROS & CONSBenefits and disadvantages of bowel cancer screening
Benefits of bowel screening
- Bowel cancer screening can detect bowel cancer at its earliest stage, when there is a 90% (9 in 10) chance of curing it.
- Screening can reduce the risk of dying from bowel cancer by 16% (1 in 6).
- Removing polyps can reduce the chances of developing bowel cancer.
- A colonoscopy is the best way of diagnosing a bowel cancer.
- The FOB test is done in the privacy of your own home.
Disadvantages
- Bowel cancer screening may not prevent cancer.
- You may feel embarrassed about collecting samples of your bowel motions.
- You may get anxious waiting for results.
- The FOB test is not 100% reliable.
- A bowel cancer may be missed if it’s not bleeding when the FOB test is done.
- Bowel preparation the day before a colonoscopy can be unpleasant.
- There are risks associated with having a colonoscopy.
- Bowel cancer can start to develop in the two years between screening tests.
Content last reviewed: 01 April 2008
Page last modified: 14 January 2009
Page last modified: 14 January 2009