PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Bowel Cancer: Screening (8 February 2024)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to ensure that people with Lynch Syndrome are (a) informed of their condition and (b) made aware of their increased risk of bowel cancer.

Asked by:
Taiwo Owatemi (Labour)

NHS England, through the NHS Genomic Medicine Service, has launched a national transformation project to ensure more patients with Lynch syndrome are identified and benefit from regular check-ups, earlier interventions, and more targeted treatment, such as combinations of immunotherapy, chemotherapy and surgeries.

People aged between 25 and 75 years old identified as having Lynch Syndrome will be included in the surveillance arm of the National Health Service bowel cancer screening programme, and will be offered a colonoscopy every two years.

The national programme ensures all people diagnosed with bowel and endometrial are offered genomic testing, with a diagnosis for Lynch syndrome not only helping to guide more personalised cancer treatment but enabling their families and relatives to be offered testing too.

Answered by:
Andrew Stephenson (Conservative)
19 February 2024