Cancer Tests More Likely to be Missed by Poor

A study by Cancer Research UK has revealed that people from a background of poverty are more likely to miss cancer screening tests.

The study related to bowel cancer test kits, which were sent to people ages of 60 and 74 in London. In the more affluent section of the city some 49% availed the tests, while just 32% of the people in the poorer areas used them. Some 37,500 new cases of bowel cancer are diagnosed each year and 16,000 deaths are attributed to it.

"There's a real danger that bowel cancer could increasingly become a disease of lower social class if these figures hold true across the UK," said Professor Jane Wardle, lead author of the research. "Screening helps to spot early signs of bowel cancer, as well as pre-cancerous growths that don't cause any symptoms, so it's important that everyone who receives a testing kit takes part."

The details of the study appear in the British Journal of Cancer.


Source-Medindia
RAS