This new colorectal cancer screening test (immunological) has already obtained the green light from the High Authority for Health in 2008 and the National Cancer Institute looked into its implementation in 2011. Three years later, these tests should finally be able to be used in France. The new method promises to be more precise and simpler than the one used today since a single stool sample (compared to six currently) will be sufficient to establish a diagnosis. “This simplification should make it possible to broaden the participation of the French in screening tests, which today remains insufficient (32%)”, explains the Ministry of Health.
Today, colorectal cancer screening is offered free of charge every two years to men and women aged 50 to 74. Screening is based on searches for blood in the stool by a colorimetric test (Hemoccult®) which detects the presence of blood, whatever its origin and without giving any indication of its quantity. “The immunological test only identifies human blood and indicates its quantity, which makes it possible to detect more polyps and cancers”, explains to Top Santé Dr Anne-Laure Tarrerias, gastroenterologist attached to the Foch hospital in Suresnes (92). Immunological tests are already used routinely for screening in other countries.
Colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death. The prevention of this cancer is a public health issue at a time when Inserm expects an increase in the number of colorectal cancers over the next few years (45,000 new cases per year in 2020). In 2012, 42,000 new cases of colorectal cancer were recorded.
The importance of early detection
Colorectal cancer is characterized by abdominal pain, intestinal transit disorders, rectal bleeding (hemorrhages of red blood), anemia, the presence of blood in the stool.
Problem, the disease progresses at the beginning without the symptoms appearing, which explains why many cancers are diagnosed late. The generalization of screening is therefore necessary to detect the disease at a very early stage in its development. When spotted at an early stage, the 5-year survival rate after diagnosis exceeds 90%.