Researchers developing blood test to identify bowel cancer

Australian researchers are developing a new screening tool to identify bowel cancer in its early stages.

The disease is the second most common cancer in Australia, but only 44 per cent of Australians who are sent a bowel cancer screening kit use it.

"You get sent those government tests and like a lot of people I popped it in my bathroom cupboard and thought 'Oh yeah, I'll do that,'" trial participant Diane Morrison said.

READ MORE: Mother pleads for young Aussies to know bowel cancer symptoms

For the 59-year-old, a blood test is a better option.

"If you can just have a blood test, like how amazing. Just go to the doctors and have a blood test," she said.

The Australian screening technology is called ColoSTAT and is currently in the late stages of clinical trials.

"It involves a blood test and an algorithm to work out how likely it is to be positive," Doctor Anthony McGirr, the Principal Investigator at the Northern Beaches Clinical Research Centre, said.

Each year, more than 5000 Australians die from bowel cancer.

It is hoped this new and less invasive screening tool will be able to identify the disease earlier to reduce that number.

This new trial comes amid a push to make the national screening program available to younger Australians following a report showing an increasing number of deaths in people aged 45 to 49.

"It's no longer a disease of elderly patients so definitely I think it's worth screening people at a younger age," Dr McGirr said.

The centre's director, Jeff Wall, said the test could be rolled out nationwide within two years.

"The more tools that we've got that enable us to detect it early means that we're going to have better outcomes for patients that are detected with bowel cancer," he said.

The Bowel Cancer Australia-endorsed trial is currently accepting patients aged 40 to 85 years.

To find out more, or to participate you can click here.