If you are aged 50-74, the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program will send you a free bowel screening test in the mail every two years.
But, what if you are under 50?
Can you get a bowel cancer test under 50?
The answer is yes, but it is not free.
You can get a test from most Pharmacies at prices around $33 to $40.
An example is the Bowelscreen Australia Colovantage Home Kit.
Should you get a bowel cancer test at under 50 years old?
In a study of 557 colonoscopy patients, with adenomas, almost 2% of people aged under 50 were found to have bowel cancer.
The incidence of bowel cancer has increased by up to 9% in people aged under 50 since the 1990s, in both Australia and the US.
Bowel cancer was the leading cause of death from cancer in men aged 30–34 and women aged 25–34 in Australia in 2019.