New tool ‘helps GPs spot bowel cancer in young patients like Stephen Sutton and Deborah James faster – raising survival chances’
A NEW tool that calculates a person's risk of developing bowel cancer is designed to speed up diagnosis and save young patients' lives.
GPs will now be able to combine symptoms with blood test results to measure a patient's likelihood of the disease - as a percentage.
Based on the result, they can then decide whether a young patient needs to see a specialist for further tests.
The tool is the first of its kind designed to speed up diagnosis in young patients.
The symptoms of bowel cancer and inflammatory bowel disease are common and account for one in 12 GP appointments.
But in most cases cancer is not the cause, so it can be difficult for GPs to determine which patients are at serious risk.
As a result young people often face a delay in their diagnosis, reducing their chance of survival significantly.
Every year in the UK, more than 2,500 people are told they have the disease before their 50th birthday.
While it remains relatively rare in young people, cases in this age group have soared by 45 per cent in the last 12 years.
At the age of just 15, Stephen Sutton was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and told at 17 his disease was terminal.
Before, and in the wake of his death in 2014, he raised a staggering £5.5million for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
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Stephen's parents pleaded with medics to check for bowel cancer, but by the time Stephen was tested six months later, it was too late.
Deborah Alsina, CEO of Bowel Cancer UK, said the new test is an "exciting" step forward and is designed to speed up diagnosis in younger patients.
The charity has championed the test, as part of their , launched four years ago.
She told The Sun Online: "Delayed diagnosis is all too common for young patients with both bowel cancer and inflammatory bowel disease therefore finding quicker, more effective ways to identify and diagnose these patients earlier is crucial.
"Our research shows that one in five young patients have to visit their GP five times or more before they get their diagnosis and this is simply not acceptable."
Explaining how the test works, she added: "For example, if a person came to see their GP with low haemoglobin levels and rectal bleeding, they would have a 13 per cent risk of bowel cancer.
WHAT ARE THE KEY SIGNS OF BOWEL CANCER?
Bowel cancer can be treated, but the earlier it is diagnosed the better a patient’s chance of survival.
If you suffer any symptoms, however embarrassing you may think they are, go to see your doctor.
GPs deal with bowels, tummy problems, diarrhoea and all sorts on a regular basis, so what may seem grim to you, is part of their normal working day.
The key signs you could have bowel cancer include:
- bleeding from your bottom, and/or blood in your poo
- a change in bowel habit lasting three weeks or longer
- unexplained weight loss
- extreme tiredness for no obvious reason
- a pain or lump in your tummy
Most of the time, a person suffering these symptoms won’t have bowel cancer.
Other health problems can cause similar symptoms, but it is vital doctors rule out cancer early on.
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"Low haemoglobin levels and a change in bowel habits would be a five per cent risk.
"The Nice referral guidelines say for suspected cancer, three per cent is the cut off. Anything above that should be referred to a specialist for more tests."
Based on the percentage score, GPs are advised to take the following actions:
- three per cent risk or higher - the patient should be referred for an urgent colonoscopy test to examine the inside of the bowel, or refer the patient to a specialist for further assessment
- one to three per cent risk - GP should recommend a patient has a faecal calprotectin test, which shows if there's inflammation in the bowel and can rule out IBS
- less than one per cent risk - GP should monitor the patient's progress, but no further tests are needed at this stage
"GPs have a really difficult job," Ms Alsina added.
"We wanted to enable GPs, to give them the tools that enable them to try to make good clinical decisions, and in doing so speed up the right diagnosis."
She said the next step is to ensure all GPs across the UK have access to the potentially life-saving tool, and use it as part of their day-to-day practise.
BOWEL CANCER IN YOUNG PEOPLE BY NUMBERS
Though bowel cancer is rarer in people under the age of 50, cases in this age group have soared by 45 per cent in the last 12 years.
Eachyear in the UK, more than 2,500 are told they have the disease before their 50th birthday.
Nearly 98 per cent of people will survive the disease, if it is detected in its earliest stages - stage one.
That's compared to less than one in 10 people who will survive if they're diagnosed at stage four.
Research has shown three out of five people diagnosed under the age of 50 will be told they have cancer at stage three or four.
A third (34 per cent) are diagnosed in an emergency situation, A&E for example.
As a result many young patients have a lower chance of surviving than they should.
Deborah James, who was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer just before Christmas, after repeated visits to doctors welcomed the new research.
She told The Sun Online: "It is a great tool, that enables GPs to fast track people like myself and recognise the symptoms more easily.
"It's important too, in helping to raise awareness of bowel cancer in the under-50s among GPs.
"Young people present totally differently, and so they need to be taken seriously.
"We need to put it at the forefront of GPs' minds to help them make faster diagnoses and refer on."
Professor Willie Hamilton, at the University of Exeter Medical School, who led the research said: “The risk assessment tool should be used as a reminder to GPs to consider the likelihood of an individual patient having a serious bowel condition given the symptom or combination of symptoms they present with.
"The tool does not replace clinical judgement but provides more information to base a referral decision.”
The research is published in the British Journal of General Practice, and is funded by the Department of Health.
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