Introduction Bowel cancer screening (BSC) is important to detect colorectal cancer (CRC) before it becomes symptomatic in order to improve overall outcomes. It was noted that a higher proportion of patients presented with advanced CRC to our Unit, compared to the national average. This study was conducted to evaluate the response rate to BCS at Hillingdon and the histological stage of cancer presentation.

Method Patients with a confirmed diagnosis of CRC between 2009 and 2014 were included, the histological staging was obtained via the hospital computer system and the FOBt response was obtained from the national screening hub. A responder was defined as a patient who sent a sample back at any point, and a non-responder as any patient who failed to send back a single sample. We defined advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) as node positive (Dukes’ C) and metastatic disease (Dukes’ D).

Results 174 patients were analysed, of which 64 (37%) were responders to BCS and 110 (63%) non-responders. Of the non-responders, 55% presented with advanced CRC while 41% presented with early CRC, (9% Dukes A, 32% Dukes B, 39% Dukes C and 13% Dukes D). Of the responders, 44% presented with advanced CRC.

Conclusion More than half of non-responders to BCS presented with advanced CRC, which has a poor prognosis. Although our numbers are small the difference between the responders and non-responders is evident.

Disclosure of interest None Declared.