A MAN who has lost both his mother and brother to bowel cancer is backing a campaign to lower the screening age from 60 to 50 - in line with Scotland.

There are more than a million people in their 50's across the region currently being denied an opportunity of an early diagnosis due to the current rules.

Publisher Steve Worsnop, 58, from Topcliffe, near Thirsk, said: “In the last two years I’ve lost both my mother and my brother to bowel cancer.

"Their cancers weren’t diagnosed early enough for them to be treated successfully. I don’t want other families to go through what we have, when in many cases it can be prevented."

“Thousands of people in England are diagnosed at a late stage. If screening was in place for them in their 50s, many lives could be saved by catching the cancer early."

The North-East has the highest rate of bowel cancer in England with 77 people per 100,000 population suffering from the disease. The figure for Yorkshire and Humberside is 71.

Brian Hedley from Morpeth, Northumberland, fell ill in his 50s but it took two years for him to be diagnosed with bowel cancer.

He said: "If bowel cancer screening had been available to me from the age of 50, my cancer would have been caught much sooner and would have been much easier to treat. Catching bowel cancer early can make the difference between life and death and screening catches it early. It’s as simple as that."

There are currently 386,000 people in the North-East and 706,600 in Yorkshire and Humberside in their 50s who are outside the national screening programme.

In the last two months, nearly 7,000 cancer patients, their families and supporters across the country have written to their MPs urging them to support a campaign to lower the bowel cancer screening age and give those in their 50s the chance of earlier and more successful treatment.

This follows charity Beating Bowel Cancer’s call in January for the screening age to be equalised throughout the UK. Currently the age is 60 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland but 50 in Scotland.

Judith Brodie, Acting Chief Executive at Beating Bowel Cancer said: “Around 41,000 people a year are diagnosed with bowel cancer in the UK and more than 1 in 10 are in their 50s. However, only those in Scotland are currently given the same chance of an early diagnosis as the over 60s.

“If diagnosed at this early stage 97 per cent of cases can be successfully treated but this drops to just seven per cent if diagnosed at a late stage. You’re far more likely to be diagnosed at an early stage through screening than via your GP or A&E.

"So it’s shocking that currently over a million people in the North-East and Yorkshire and Humberside alone are being denied the chance of an early diagnosis via screening.”

Mr Hedley added: "Bowel cancer screening from 50 would not only save lives, the potential savings in treatment costs would be immeasurable.

"So I hope people in the North-East will support the lowering of the screening agree to ensure that in the future those in their 50s in the North East will have the same opportunity for an early diagnosis as those of the same age who live north of the border.”

The charity, bowel cancer patients and others who are supporting the campaign hope to persuade MPs to put pressure on the Health Minister to consider equalising the bowel cancer screening age throughout the UK.

For more details or to sign up in support of Beating Bowel Cancer’s screening at 50 campaign visit www.beatingbowelcancer.org.

About bowel cancer

• Bowel cancer is the UK’s second biggest cancer killer – every half an hour someone dies of the disease

• Each year almost 16,000 people die of bowel cancer

• In the UK over 41,000 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer each year

• Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK

• Around 110 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer every day, that’s someone every 15 minutes

• Bowel cancer affects both men and women

• If diagnosed early, more than 90% of bowel cancer cases can be treated successfully

• The majority (95%) of bowel cancer cases occur in people over 50, but it can affect anyone of any age

Symptoms

Anyone experiencing one or more of these symptoms for three weeks or more should go and see their GP:

• Bleeding from the bottom or blood in your poo

• A persistent change in bowel habit, especially going more often or looser stools

• Abdominal pain, especially if severe

• A lump in your tummy

• Unexplained weight loss or tiredness