More Aussies will die from bowel cancer because of COVID-19 disruption, research finds – 9News

More than a thousand additional Aussies are likely to die from bowel cancer because of disruptions caused by COVID-19, researchers say.

Scientists say they expect pandemic disruptions would lead to a 2.4 per cent increase in deaths related to the cancer, compared with a scenario when there were no screening disruption, diagnostic or treatment delays.

The Aussie-led research expects an additional 234 bowel cancer cases and 1186 deaths in Australia over 20202030.

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The researchers modelled the impact of disruptions on colorectal cancer cases and deaths in both Canada and Australia.

But they also found that increasing diagnostic and treatment capacities by five per cent to address the backlog could help prevent 350 Aussie deaths.

Cancer Council NSW, The University of Sydney,n and The Daffodil Centre were involved in the research.

Bowel cancer is the third most diagnosed and second deadliest cancer in Australia, after lung cancer.

But an easy test can help diagnose it.

Government advice body the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) announced a recommendation to lower the screening age for the disease from 50 to 45 late last year.

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But the federal government needs to give it the green light.

Last year, a mother who was diagnosed with cancer after returning her screening kit urged Aussies not to ignore them.

A bowel cancer screening kit is sent to all Australians aged 50 to 74 every two years.

An Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report in 2023 showed bowel cancer screening participation rates had dropped - and also blamed the pandemic.

It dropped to 40.9 per cent in 2020-2021, an almost three per cent decline from the previous screening period.

More than 2.6 million Aussies were invited to send tests over that period, yet a huge 1.5 million did not return a sample.

But even in normal times, around 60 per cent of Australians don't bother to complete the test.

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Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer after lung cancer.

However, if caught at the earliest stage, 99 per cent of people survive at least five years.

That drops to 14 per cent at stage four.

One in nine new bowel cancer cases - more than 1700 a year - are in people under 50.

Under the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBSCP), Australians aged 50 to 74 are sent testing kits in the mail to collect a fecal sample that is then posted to a pathology laboratory to be examined.

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Blood in stools, unexplained weight loss, abdominal pain, unexplained anaemia and a persistent change in bowel habits can all be signs of the disease.

For more details, visit Bowel Cancer Australia.

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More Aussies will die from bowel cancer because of COVID-19 disruption, research finds - 9News