In 2008, when she was aged 51, a bowel cancer screening test arrived in the mail.

"I had no symptoms but I did the test and then one of the samples came back positive," she said.

"The GP sent me off for a colonoscopy and it came back positive too. It was the last thing I imagined would happen."

Within three weeks, Ms Ward was in hospital having stage two cancer removed from her large bowel. The surgeon removed 15cm of tissue that had been affected by the cancer along with 17 lymph nodes.

Doctors say Ms Ward is one of a growing number of Australians who have been spared the torture of having terminal bowel cancer because they took the free screening test sent to them as part of the national bowel cancer screening program.

While only about a third of people sent the test actually take it, a study published in the Internal Medicine Journal this week found that people presenting to Victorian hospitals with bowel cancer detected initially by the test are more likely to have early stage disease and survive as a result.

Author of the study Sumitra Ananda said of 1930 patients aged between 50 and 70 (the target group for screening), 141 or 7 per cent had been diagnosed because of the national screening test.

The oncologist at the Western and Royal Melbourne hospitals said that 40 per cent of these people had stage one cancers (the least advanced cancer confined to the bowel wall) compared to 12 per cent of patients who were diagnosed after experiencing symptoms and had not taken a screening test.

Furthermore, the rate of cancer recurrence for people who had had the test was 4 per cent versus 21 per cent for patients in the other group.

There was a significantly lower death rate in the test group too. The five year survival rate was 91 per cent for them compared to 70 per cent for those who had not taken the test.

"This confirms that we are actually saving lives here," Dr Ananda said. "And some people are just throwing the (free test) kit away."

Dr Ananda said people with stage one to three cancers were potentially curable, whereas only a tiny proportion of people with stage four cancer survive.

At the moment, people aged 50-70 are recommended to take the test every two years. However, only some people will be mailed it for free every two years under the screening program which is being gradually scaled up by the government.

Ms Ward, who is now clear of cancer, said her husband purchased a test at a pharmacy because of her experience. She recommends others follow suit.

"I think people should be aware of it… My oncologist told me that had I not had the test, I probably wouldn't be here today."