Caught early, colorectal cancer is treatable in 90% of cases.
- Early treatment of colorectal cancer guarantees complete recovery in 90% of cases.
- But taken at the final stages (3 or 4) of the disease, 5-year survival is only 12% for colon cancers and barely 13% for rectal cancers.
- In France, for a third of them, colon and rectal cancers are detected at an already advanced stage.
In celebration of awareness month “Blue Mars”, there League against cancer indicates that early treatment of colorectal cancer guarantees complete cure in 90% of cases.
On the other hand, providing care too late considerably increases the risk of death. Taken at the final stages (3 or 4) of the disease, 5-year survival is only 12% for colon cancers and barely 13% for rectal cancers.
A third of colorectal cancers are detected at an advanced stage
“At the origin of 50 deaths per day, colorectal cancer is the 3rd most fatal cancer among women in France and the 2nd among men,” recalls the League against Cancer.
Two elements explain this high mortality rate: low participation in screening and the very late appearance of the first symptoms of the disease.
“In nine out of ten cases, colorectal cancer is caused by the degeneration of a benign lesion, an adenomatous polyp,” members of the nonprofit organization are suing. “It is a long process which lasts between 5 to 10 years during which there are no notable symptoms. For this reason, for a third of them, colon and rectal cancers are detected at an already early stage. advance”, they lament.
Furthermore, out of 18 million eligible French people, only 34.3% of those concerned were screened for colorectal cancer in 2021/2022. “A situation that is all the more worrying when we know that it is one of the cancers for which we have effective screening tools,” underlines the League against cancer.
Colorectal cancer: what is screening for?
Based on the search for blood in the stools, colorectal cancer screening allows, in the event of a positive result, to carry out a colonoscopy, the excision of precancerous lesions and their management.
All French people aged 50 to 74 are invited every 2 years by mail to participate in the campaign.
Colorectal cancer: what are the risk factors?
Being able to affect the colon but also the rectum, colorectal cancer develops from cells in the mucosa, the inner lining of the colon.
More than 48,000 new cases of colorectal cancer are diagnosed every year.
The main modifiable risk factors for colorectal cancer are: alcohol consumption, being overweight, smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, physical inactivity and a diet low in fiber or excessive in red/processed meat.
