EDX Medical is launching a bowel cancer testing service in the UK in the coming weeks that is intended to improve the early-stage detection of the disease.

The UK-based diagnostic company’s offering will be comprised of a customisable suite of diagnostic tests, tailored to individual patient needs, the company stated. The testing service will use faecal and blood samples to examine a range of biomarkers including hereditary genetic status that can aid in early risk detection for bowel cancer.

The service also includes pre-test counselling for hereditary risk assessment, with all data from the various diagnostic procedures returned to the patient’s designated healthcare provider or doctor for clinical follow-up.

Bowel, or colorectal, cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. In the UK, there are around 44,000 new cases of the disease each year.

EDX highlighted that in a cohort of 1124 asymptomatic patients with an overall disease incidence of 1.8%, its test has been shown to have an average sensitivity of 95% for detecting colorectal cancer across stages 1- 4, with a 89.1% sensitivity for detecting early-stage cancers.

According to EDX, once rolled out, its service will offer the most accurate colorectal testing solution currently available on the UK market.

EDX Medical CEO Dr Mike Hudson commented: “There is growing demand for highly accurate testing solutions for the early detection of bowel and colon cancer in the UK, where late detection of the disease remains a significant cause of premature death.

“Our new service provides diagnostic tools which enable an assessment of hereditary risk and reliable, early detection when treatment options and outcomes are favourable”.

Bowel cancer screening is currently offered to people aged 50 to 74 every two years on England’s National Health Service (NHS). Screening is conducted via a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) kit that is sent to patients’ homes.

EDX’s plans follow recent discourse in the UK on early diagnosis of another type of common cancer. Experts have been weighing whether the UK should induct a broader prostate cancer screening programme. However, in the UK National Screening Committee’s (NSC) draft recommendation for a targeted prostate cancer screening programme on 28 November, an expert panel advised against prostate cancer screening for most men in the UK.

Comprising government health advisers, the panel concluded that a prostate screening programme in the UK would likely cause more harm than good, citing a “high risk” for over-diagnosis versus only a small reduction in the amount of prostate cancer deaths.