Don’t let cancer prevention take a break while preventing the epidemic! Colorectal cancer screening drops sharply; delayed diagnosis may increase risk of death

During the epidemic, many patients choose not to seek medical follow-up to avoid infection. In particular, colorectal cancer screening tests such as fecal occult blood or colonoscopy have decreased significantly, and the opportunity for early diagnosis has been missed. In addition, some people stayed at home for epidemic prevention, sitting for long periods of time and moving little, and the long-term accumulation of this has led to "epidemic obesity." Doctors warn that this may silently increase the risk of colorectal cancer.

Wu Ming-hsien, director of the National Taiwan University Hospital, said on his personal Facebook a few days ago that the COVID-19 pandemic has entered its third year, and prevention measures have become the focus of all attention as information about the pandemic continues to gather pace. However, "many major non-infectious illnesses do not have holidays, and their occurrence and progression do not stop." In terms of cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and cervical cancer, which could have been detected early through screening, have been delayed due to the pandemic, leading to an increase in deaths.

Pandemic reduces cancer screening by 20%

It also pointed out that before the epidemic, Taiwan had successfully reduced the mortality rate of colorectal cancer participants participating in the new national disease screening by 35% through a good screening program. However, the outbreak has reduced the number of screenings by 20% (approximately 290,000 people) and the number of stool-positive referrals by 18,000, which means that 5,000 fewer people will have progressive adenomas and 1,000 fewer people will have colorectal cancer each year. What is even more distressing is that the situation in 2020 was more serious than in 2019, and in 2021 it was even worse than in 2020. In 2021, the referral rate for positive stool was only 60%. A study conducted by the National Taiwan University Hospital has long pointed out that if treatment is delayed for more than six months, the risk of progressive colorectal cancer increases by 30%, and if treatment is delayed for more than one year, the mortality rate rises significantly.

Colorectal cancer ranks first in cancer incidence for 14 consecutive years

According to the latest cancer registration data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, colorectal cancer has been ranked first in cancer incidence for 14 consecutive years, which means that one person is diagnosed with colorectal cancer every 30 minutes. Liang Chengchao, deputy director of Beitou Health Management Hospital, pointed out that in recent years, the Westernization of Chinese people's diet, more refined diet, and preference for high-fat foods will increase the risk of colorectal cancer. In addition, people over 50 years old, those who are obese, smoke, drink, have a family history of colorectal cancer, or have had ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease are all at high risk of colorectal cancer.

"Pandemic Obesity" Invisibly Increases the Risk of Colorectal Cancer

Dr. Liang Chengchao pointed out that among them, obesity is a risk factor that already affects the majority of the Chinese population. According to a survey conducted by the National Health Administration, the overweight or obesity rate among adults was as high as 47.9% from 2016 to 2019. The prevalence of obesity is constantly rising, and the incidence of colorectal cancer is also relatively increasing. In recent years, due to the epidemic, most people have switched to working from home and have reduced going out to reduce the chance of infection. As a result, the amount of activity has been greatly reduced, resulting in many people suffering from "epidemic obesity", which has also silently increased the risk of colorectal cancer.

Dr. Liang Chengchao called on the public to make full use of the fecal occult blood test provided by the National Health Administration. People aged 50 to 74 are provided with free screening once every two years. It is a safe, simple and accurate screening tool, and can also avoid the increased risk of infection when entering and leaving medical institutions during the epidemic. However, if any abnormality is found during the examination, further colonoscopy is required. If you have a family history of colorectal cancer, it is recommended that you proactively arrange a self-paid colonoscopy in advance. The time from adenomatous polyps to colorectal cancer is about 5 to 10 years. If the growth of intestinal polyps can be detected in advance and removed before the polyps develop into tumors, colorectal cancer can be effectively prevented.