Australian bowel cancer screening age should drop from 50 to 45, medical research authority says

One in nine new bowel cancer cases now occur in people under the age of 50, Bowel Cancer Australia says. Photograph: David Davies/PA

Australians as young as 45 should be screened for bowel cancer, according to new guidelines approved by Australia’s peak body for medical research.

With rates of bowel cancer in people under 50 rising, the National Health and Medical Research Council has endorsed lowering the age at which bowel cancer screening starts from 50 to 45 in its clinical practice guidelines, a position advocated by Bowel Cancer Australia for the past five years.