The NHS will sharpen England’s bowel cancer test by lowering the FIT threshold, a move expected to save hundreds of lives.
Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in Britain, with about 44,100 people diagnosed and 17,400 deaths each year.
The faecal immunochemical test (FIT), a home kit that checks for tiny traces of blood in a stool sample, will have its threshold lowered as part of a wider overhaul of cancer diagnosis and treatment.
The amount of blood needed to trigger further checks will drop from 120 micrograms per gram of stool to 80 micrograms by 2028, bringing England into line with Scotland and Wales.
NHS England estimates the change will mean 600 more bowel cancers are detected each year, an 11 per cent rise on the 5,320 cases currently identified annually. It also expects late-stage diagnoses and deaths to fall by around 6 per cent once fully implemented, saving the health service £32m a year.
Professor Peter Johnson, NHS England’s national clinical director for cancer, said: “This is a major step forward in bowel cancer detection and will help save hundreds more lives from this devastating disease.
“Testing at a lower level threshold will now provide a better early warning system for bowel cancer, helping us to spot and treat cancers earlier, often picking up problems before symptoms occur.”
The FIT test became part of the NHS bowel cancer screening programme in 2019. Eligible people receive a kit by post and return a small stool sample for lab analysis.
In 2024, eligibility was expanded from ages 54 to 74 to include those aged 50 to 53. In 2023-24, the NHS sent kits to almost 7 million people, with 68 per cent returning them.
The change will require 35 per cent more colonoscopies, a diagnostic camera test of the bowel offered to patients whose FIT results suggest possible cancer.
Genevieve Edwards, chief executive of Bowel Cancer UK, said the lower threshold was “great news for people living in England” and marked an important moment for bowel cancer screening.
In a report last month, the charity warned that 25 per cent of bowel cancers were only diagnosed when patients arrived at A&E with symptoms.
The move is set to be outlined in the government’s new national cancer plan, launching on 4 February to coincide with World Cancer Day.
