Survival benefit of increasing colorectal cancer screening uptake in Wolverhampton, UK: an exploratory study

Abstract

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the UK. Biennial faecal occult blood test screening has been shown to significantly reduce mortality from CRC. Wolverhampton was the first centre involved in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (NHS BCSP) in England. The aim of this study was to assess the life-year saving by increasing the uptake of CRC screening in Wolverhampton by 20%.

Methods: Using data from the first complete round of the NHS BCSP and 5-year survival figures based on the Dukes staging system, a simple model was developed on Microsoft Excel using the population of Wolverhampton aged between 60 and 74 years.

Results: If uptake of CRC screening in Wolverhampton increased from 50% to 70%, one extra person would be alive at 5 years and the 5-year survival rate would increase by 0.85%.

Conclusions: Increasing the uptake of CRC screening by 20% in Wolverhampton would have a modest survival benefit. Further work is needed to determine whether or not this is cost-effective.