[ljf]

Very true, and this is what caught my father's bowel cancer and saved his life.

That said, for someone with increased risk, nothing compares to a colonoscopy - at it does a better job of catching things early, before you start getting blood in your poo.

But if you are at a standard risk, doing a fobt every couple-few years is hugely important. Ask your doctor now!

[dillydogg]

The superior stool based test would be the FIT-DNA test, which compares favorably to a colonoscopy in sensitivity. These are covered by insurance in the US.

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1311194

[ljf]

I had not heard of those - I'll have to look out to see if the NHS offers these.

Currently on 5 yearly review until I hit 50, as my oldest brother had the same cancer at 56, which sadly took his life, so I am not of standard risk.

Reading summary of that paper:

"The numbers of persons who would need to be screened to detect one cancer were 154 with colonoscopy, 166 with DNA testing, and 208 with FIT." So I'll still stick with a colonoscopy until something better comes along.