MORE than 100 cases of bowel cancer have been picked up in Dorset as a direct result of the national screening programme, which started in the county two years ago.

All people of 60 to 69 are offered screening kits every two years with the aim of detecting the disease at an early stage, when treatment is more likely to be successful.

About one in 20 people in the UK will develop bowel cancer. It is the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths, killing more than 16,000 people a year.

Across Dorset, a total of 113,819 kits have been sent out and 59,909 returned, making the county’s uptake just above the national average of 58 per cent.

Dorset bowel cancer screening programme manager Suzie Scaddan said: “These statistics show that the programme is working well and will help to save lives. Uptake in the region is encouraging, but we would like to see more people completing and returning their screening kits.” Test kits are sent to people’s homes so they can collect small samples of bowel movements, which are sent off to be analysed for traces of blood. The results show whether further investigation is needed.

Next month, the Dorset bowel cancer screening programme will start including people aged 70 to 74.

Ms Scaddan said: “Kits are sent out automatically so there is no need to request one.”

People of 75 and above who want to have a testing kit should ring the freephone helpline on 0800 707 60 60.

l Symptoms such as bleeding from the bottom with no obvious cause, change in bowel habit, abdominal pain, a lump in the tummy, weight loss and tiredness for more than four weeks should be checked by a GP.