Analysis of Bowel Cancer Outcomes for the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program

This report presents a comparison of the mortality outcomes and cancer characteristics for two populations: those invited to screen in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) in 2006–2008, and those of a similar age who had not been invited to screen in that time period. Of the 2006–2008 bowel cancer diagnoses in these two groups, non-invitees were found to have a 15% higher risk of dying from bowel cancer than NBCSP invitees, and bowel cancers diagnosed in non-invitees were more likely to be at a more-advanced stage. These outcomes demonstrate that the NBCSP is contributing to reducing morbidity and mortality from bowel cancer in Australia. The report findings also suggest that the screening test has a high degree of accuracy.