Bowel cancer screening program is a bargain and will save lives

The study, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and the United States National Cancer Institute, said that Australians would spend over $750 million caring for patients with bowel cancer in 2010, and with the rising costs of treating the disease, a biennial bowel cancer screening program for Australians aged 50-75 is a highly cost-effective strategy that should be seriously considered.

The research team, led by Prof Michael Pignone from the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina in the US, said that, to date, Australian Government budget constraints and concern about capacity have led to the adoption of a limited program of one-time screening for adults aged 50, 55 and 65, and that funding for even this limited program is due to expire in mid 2011 unless it is reauthorised.

“Based on savings from reduced treatment costs, we estimate that implementation of a full program could be achieved with a modest additional investment that would bring spending in the program up to a level similar to that for other cancer screening programs,” Prof Pignone said.

“The actual additional expenditure required is likely to be less than $50 million per annum.”

Prof Pignone said that the extra spending would save up to 500 lives a year and diagnosed cancers would be detected at more favourable stages that are less expensive to treat.

“It was estimated that 14,700 Australians would be diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2010 and about 3,700 would die from it,” Prof Pignone said.

The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.

The statements or opinions that are expressed in the MJA  reflect the views of the authors and do not represent the official policy of the AMA unless that is so stated.

CONTACT:            Dr Michael Pignone                                                pignone@med.unc.edu