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Celebrities back Bowel Cancer UK’s screening call

pharmafile | July 9, 2014 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing bowel cancer uk, celebrities, screening 

A range of celebrities, including Sir Chris Hoy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ricky Gervais and Ben Richards, have pledged support to Bowel Cancer UK’s ‘Never Too Young’ campaign for potentially life-saving testing for younger people at a high risk for bowel cancer.

Never Too Young calls for action to address the lack of regular tests – called surveillance screening – for people with genetic conditions or a strong family history that puts them in a high risk bracket of getting bowel cancer. The British charity also wants to see better support generally for people at risk of the disease.

Other celebrities backing the campaign include: Alan Davies, Sharron Davies, Matthew Wright, Carol Decker, Stephen Fry, Julia Bradbury and Neil Stuke.

The need for regular tests for those at high risk of bowel cancer was highlighted recently by teenager Stephen Sutton, who died of bowel cancer in May after raising more than £4 million for charity in a large social media campaign.

Bowel Cancer UK says that whilst professional guidelines have been published, the reality is that the implementation is at best patchy, yet regular screening of people at high risk has been proven to save lives.

TV presenter Matthew Wright says: “My dad died of bowel cancer when he was 56 and most of the men in our family have either died from the disease or survived it. So I know how dreadful it can be. I discovered a few years ago that Lynch syndrome ran in my family, the same gene which affected Stephen Sutton’s family, the inspiring teenager who died so tragically recently and that’s why I had genetic testing.”

Deborah Alsina, chief executive of Bowel Cancer UK, adds: “We have been running our Never Too Young campaign for the last year and we are currently focussing on surveillance screening of high risk groups. These include families with a genetic condition called Lynch syndrome, people with a strong family history or those who have had an inflammatory bowel condition for over ten years. They need high quality surveillance screening to reduce their risk of developing bowel cancer.”

She goes on: “While bowel cancer is thankfully relatively rare in younger people, around 2,100 people under 50 are still diagnosed with it each year, often late. That’s why we launched our Never Too Young campaign, to improve the diagnosis, treatment and care of younger bowel cancer patients and to raise awareness amongst younger people and health professionals. Early diagnosis really does save lives.

“In memory of all the 550 people under 50 who lose their lives to bowel cancer each year in the UK, we are determined to save lives by ensuring people gain access to the screening surveillance they need, so that bowel cancer can be ruled out first, not last, in younger patients.”

Ben Adams 

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