Colon (bowel) cancer and Medicare funded testing in Australia

Medicare funded (bulk billed) testing is available if a patient has a polyposis syndrome or if there is a 10% of higher chance of a hereditary bowel cancer syndrome called Lynch syndrome.

• Cancers such as colon (bowel), uterine, bladder, stomach where there is loss of staining on MMR IHC testing. (Item 73354, genes MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, EPCAM).
• A significant number of bowel polyps, usually >10 or 20 if older than 50 (Item 73355 (genes APC and MUTYH) or unusual kinds of polyps such as juvenile or hamartomatous polyps (item 73356 (genes BMPRIA, SMAD4, GREM1, STK11) but usually also includes EPCAM, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, POLE and POLD1).