The cancer screening programme in the East of England is set nationally. Decisions about which age groups are eligible for screening are made by the UK National Screening Committee.
Screening is offered for breast cancer, cervical cancer and bowel cancer:
- Screening for breast cancer is offered to women aged 50-70 and self-referral over 70.
- Cervical cancer screening is offered to women between the ages of 25 to 64, with invites every three years from 26-49 and every five years from 50 to 64yrs.
- Bowel cancer screening is offered by means of a home testing kit, every two years to those aged from 60 to 74.
Full details of all the screening programmes and who they are offered to are available at NHS screening. With a helpful explanation of how population screening works, provided by Public Health England.
We encourage anyone who has received an invite for screening to take up their invite and attend their screening appointment. Screening is a way of identifying cancers at an earlier stage, the earlier a cancer is detected the better the long-term outcome.
