How often should patients participate in bowel cancer screening, and what age groups are targeted?

The recommended frequency for bowel cancer screening in the UK is every 2 years for adults starting from age 50 onwards. This is the standard interval used by the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, which targets individuals aged 50 to 74 years for routine screening invitations. Screening is primarily conducted using the faecal immunochemical test (FIT), which has improved uptake and detection rates compared to previous methods ¹.

The programme invites eligible adults biennially, aiming to detect bowel cancer early and reduce mortality. Primary care teams support this by promoting uptake and providing information, although the screening invitations and follow-up are managed centrally ¹.

While the UK guidelines specify the 50-74 age group for routine screening every two years, recent literature from other countries suggests that screening strategies may evolve based on changing incidence and risk profiles, but the UK position remains the standard. For example, Canadian guidelines have discussed potential updates to screening age and frequency, but these have not yet altered UK practice (Kalyta et al., 2021).

It is important to note that screening is not 100% effective; interval cancers can occur between screening rounds, so symptomatic individuals should be referred promptly regardless of recent screening results. This underscores the need for vigilance in primary care for symptoms suggestive of bowel cancer ¹.