GP shares life-saving bowel cancer screening experience

WHILE the benefits of cancer screening programmes are well-known, saving countless lives each year, uptake of these vital tests can sometimes be concerningly low.

For instance, only 60 per-cent of those eligible participate in Northern Ireland’s bowel cancer screening scheme.

Retired GP Dr Brendan O’Hare, formerly of Western Rural Healthcare in Castlederg and Newtownstewart has shared his own personal experience of the programme and bowel cancer, in the hope of urging others to avail of the vital test.

On your 60th birthday in Northern Ireland you reach two important milestones: You are still currently able to apply for your free bus pass and your Pooh Test Kit for bowel cancer screening arrives in the post.

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in Northern Ireland and our second biggest cancer killer.

“The test is simple to perform and effective in picking up those with unhealthy polyps in their bowels and early cancers,” said Dr O’Hare.

“People in these categories have a 100 per-cent cure rate and do not go on to develop cancer or see it spread to other parts of their body and kill them.

“Yet only 60 percent of us do the test and return it. Why?”

Dr O’Hare’s father developed bowel cancer and he was “acutely aware” of the importance of the test.

“My first test aged 60 was clear,” he stated.

“The kit is sent out every two years and my second arrived a few weeks ago. It was returned and seven days later a letter arrived to say that unfortunately my result was positive and I needed a camera test – a colonoscopy. My consultation with my nurse specialist happened within a few days. A normal result for the very accurate qFit test used now for screening is less than seven. My result was 230. I had no abnormal symptoms whatsoever and certainly no visible bleeding.

“My colonoscopy was arranged and recently carried out by a nurse specialist – a straightforward procedure with minimal discomfort. Three polyps were identified.”

‘Then they kill you’

Almost all cancers originate in polyps. They are small growths in the colon – the last third of the bowel. They begin innocently enough but over a few years some can become unhealthy (dysplastic) and then progress to cancer. They then spread (metastasise) to your liver, lungs, bones and brain. Then they kill you.

“It is possible to watch your own examination on the screen,” continued Dr O’Hare.

“I could see the polyps and realised I was looking at the potential vehicles of my early death. It is hard to describe but there was almost a sadistic pleasure as I watched my endoscopist snare them and destroy them.

“I will be in a three yearly colonoscopy programme to check for any further polyps, but my bowel cancer risks have been massively reduced.”

Only two per-cent of all screening tests are positive and require further investigation. At colonoscopy only about five per-cent of patients have an actual cancer but a significant percentage have polyps with the potential to progress to a malignancy. Early intervention is life-saving. Participation in screening programmes has been shown to reduce the national bowel cancer rate.

“The decision to share all of this has not been easy but it highlights just how effective this poorly supported programme is in reducing cancer deaths,” concluded Dr O’Hare.

“If just a few reluctant but eligible people change their minds and participate in the screening it will have been well worthwhile.”