A National Taiwan University (NTU) study shows a positive correlation between the diagnoses of colorectal cancer and screening, suggesting that the age at which colon cancer should be screened should be lowered to 45, which could reduce the number of colorectal cancer diagnoses by 1,800 within the next decade.
Using the Age-Period-Cohort-Screening model, the study showed that Taiwan’s colorectal cancer screening policies had lasting long-term effects on colorectal cancer occurrence rates, said NTU College of Public Health professor Lee Wen-chung (李文宗).
In 2004, the government only screened people aged 50 to 69, with only 4.8 percent of people in that group being screened, Lee said.
Photo: CNA
The government relaxed the regulations in 2010, and the number of people screened reached 23.4 percent of the target groups, he added.
The government further raised the age of people to be screened for colorectal cancer to 74 and older as of 2013, he added.
The results showed that by 2010, colorectal cancer diagnoses for males and females aged 50 to 79 had increased by 19.2 percent and 15.6 percent respectively, but decreased by 3.4 percent and 3.1 percent respectively every year after 2013, Lee said.
As of 2019, if compared with statistics where colorectal cancer was not screened for, the screening policies had prevented 12.4 percent of men and 11.6 percent of women from developing colorectal cancer, he said.
Lee also said that colorectal cancer occurs more often in people born after 1960, with the risk for men and women seeming to peak in the generation born in the 1980s, after which the colorectal cancer risks began to drop.
Risks of colorectal cancer increased significantly among people in Western countries after 1960, Lee said, adding that it is a phenomenon that has yet to be conclusively explained.
Lee said that his research has tracked people born in Taiwan around 1990 and he has yet to find a similar drastic increase in colorectal cancer as in Western countries.
Since 2010, more younger people have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, Lee said, adding that it is essential to lower the age for colorectal cancer screening to 45.
Lee estimated that if such a policy is enacted by next year, the nation could prevent up to 1,203 colorectal cancer diagnoses in men and 783 in women by 2035, adding that it should be implemented as soon as possible.
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