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Impact of the S cottish B owel C ancer S creening P rogramme on patient and tumour characteristics at a single centre
Author(s) -
Mackay Craig,
Ramsay George,
Rafferty Anthony,
Loudon Malcolm
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of evaluation in clinical practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.737
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1365-2753
pISSN - 1356-1294
DOI - 10.1111/jep.12071
Subject(s) - medicine , asymptomatic , colorectal cancer , referral , gastroenterology , cohort , stage (stratigraphy) , cancer , family medicine , paleontology , biology
Aims The S cottish National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme aims to detect asymptomatic colorectal carcinomas and improve outcomes by identifying tumours at an earlier stage. We describe the characteristics of bowel cancers diagnosed through the screening programme since it was established in J une 2007 by comparison with colorectal carcinomas from all other referral sources. Methods All patients with colorectal cancer discussed by our regional colorectal multidisciplinary team ( MDT ) from J une 2007 to A ugust 2011 were included. Patient and tumour characteristics were collated prospectively from MDT records. The database was then reviewed retrospectively.Results During the study 209 916 (58%) of 364 759 invitations to participate in screening were accepted yielding 3895 (1.9%) positive results. The 255 (17%) screening‐detected ( SD ) patients and 1232 (83%) other referrals ( OR s) were discussed at the MDT within this period. Median age at diagnosis was 65.5 years for SD vs. 71.6 in OR ( P < 0.001) with 64% vs. 53% male [ SD vs. OR ( P < 0.001)]. There were more left‐sided tumours in SD ( P = 0.005). Tumours were less advanced in SD group ( P = 0.02) and more likely to undergo a laparoscopic resection ( P = 0.003). Thirty (11.7%) of SD patients were dead at last follow‐up compared with 458 (37.2%) of those from other sources ( P < 0.001).Conclusions This cohort from a centre with an established screening programme supports the effect of screening in detecting earlier stage. Those with screen‐detected tumours were more likely to survive than patients from the OR group.