The National Health and Medical Research Council have approved the 2017 Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention, Early Detection and Management of Colorectal Cancer.
The guidelines provide information and recommendations across the continuum of bowel cancer care including prevention, screening and diagnosis, clinical aspects of surgery, treatment, follow-up and psychosocial care.
The guidelines recognise the critical role of GPs in supporting this life-saving program. Encouragement by GPs and practice staff substantially boosts participation in screening, and can increase the program’s effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.
The evidence overwhelmingly supports the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program as the best model for population screening in Australia, with the recommended strategy, for people with an average risk of bowel cancer and without relevant symptoms, being immunochemical faecal occult blood testing every two years, starting at age 50 years and continuing to 74 years.
For more information, visit the cancer screening website.
For tools and resources on how to provide consistent and supportive care at each stage of a patient’s cancer journey visit Optimal Care Pathways and HealthPathways.
