SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, March 30 (EUROPA PRESS) –
A total of 81,851 people between the ages of 50 and 69 did not attend their appointment last year with the colon cancer early detection program in the Canary Islands, which represents 60% of the 136,749 cited, according to data made public this Thursday by the Ministry of Health on the occasion of ‘World Day against Colon Cancer’.
The detection test carried out, the blood test in stool, was positive in 2,715 patients and, as a consequence, 851 colonoscopies were performed in which, according to data from the Pathological Anatomy services, 25 colon cancers were detected, 53 adenomas high risk and 198 low risk.
Colorectal cancer is a consequence of the abnormal growth of the cells that form the tissues of the final tract of the digestive system, being the main risk factors for its development being over 50 years of age, a family history and having suffered other tumors or digestive pathologies such as inflammatory bowel disease –ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease–.
However, despite the high incidence and mortality associated with the tumor, survival exceeds 90 percent in those cases in which the disease is detected early, reports the Ministry in a note.
Maintaining a healthy and balanced diet, avoiding a sedentary lifestyle and smoking, as well as performing diagnostic tests on time, are the most effective measures to prevent colorectal cancer.
Proposals to participate in the Colorectal Cancer Early Diagnosis Program are aimed at early detection of this pathology, considered the most frequent malignant tumor and the second leading cause of cancer death in Spain.
The early diagnosis test for colon cancer is performed on the population between 50 and 69 years of age and consists of a simple fecal occult blood test, using a single sample that can be performed at home and taken to the health center.
In the event that it is positive, a colonoscopy should be performed to verify the reason for the bleeding, which may be due to an inconsequential polyp but whose removal would prevent it from becoming cancer over time.
Through early diagnosis of this tumor, the number of cases can be reduced, since action on the polyp prevents its evolution to cancer and, on the other hand, detection in earlier phases allows therapeutic action in the same process of the tumor. diagnostic endoscopy and thus increases the survival rate.
INQUIRIES
The implementation of the Colorectal Cancer Early Diagnosis Program has led to the detection of patients considered to be at high risk, who are referred to specific hospital consultations for this pathology.
If the disease is detected at an early stage, mortality can decrease by up to 30 percent, an important figure considering that the average survival is around 55 percent in five years.
In addition, the detection of precancerous lesions and the removal of the polyps that cause them ensure that between 60 and 90 percent of cases do not develop colon cancer.
