As part of “Mars Bleu”, a month to promote colorectal cancer screening, Public Health France recalls that this approach is still far too uncommon.
Screening for colorectal cancer is still very insufficient, according to French Public Health. The latest data for the period 2017-2018 show that only 32.1% of men and women aged 50 to 74 who should take this step take part. The participation rate was 33.5% for the 2016-2017 period and around 31-32% for previous periods, figures well below the European benchmark of 45%.
Detected early, colorectal cancer can be cured in 9 out of 10 cases
“The increase in participation in the colorectal cancer screening program that was expected with the change of test in the course of 2015, moving from the guaiac test to the more sensitive and easier to perform immunological test, does not is therefore not materialized to date”, deplores the health agency.
Colorectal cancer is one of the most common and deadliest cancers. In 2018, this pathology affected around 43,000 people (23,000 men and 20,000 women) and caused 17,000 deaths (9,000 men and 8,000 women). While detected early, colorectal cancer can be cured in 9 out of 10 cases. It is for this reason that the league against cancer launched this month the “Blue March” operation, punctuated with a catchy slogan having aims to break the taboos around screening: #Parlonsfesses.
Several treatments can be proposed
The screening test was positive in 4% of people screened in 2017-2018. A colonoscopy should be ordered in these people to determine the origin of the bleeding. In about 3 out of 10 cases, the colonoscopy will reveal a precancerous polyp and in 1 out of 10 cases cancer. “Immunoassay performance data for the year 2015 shows that the immunoassay detects 3.7 times more precancerous polyps and 2.4 times more cancers than the guaiac test that was used before 2015,” says French public health.
Depending on the stage of the cancer, several treatments can be offered: surgery alone in the event of a very localized lesion, surgical treatment with lymph node dissection and adjuvant chemotherapy when the disease has reached the lymph nodes, and surgery of the colon and metastasized organs in the case of of metastases. The latter may be followed or preceded by chemotherapy or even targeted therapy.
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