“Colorectal cancer is no longer inevitable”

Two weighty proofs. Two groans from the heart. Sebastien Lepetit, sub-prefect of Cognac: “If I had done it in time,” he wrote on Facebook, “I might have avoided the big operation I just had and the chemo I have to endure. …

Two weighty proofs. Two groans from the heart. Sebastien Lepetit, sub-prefect of Cognac: “If I had done it in time,” he wrote on Facebook, “I might have avoided the big operation I just had and the chemo I have to endure. For a few months. Cancer is just another does not attack. (…) Screen this, talk about it with the people around you! » The most recent one from Alain Anziani, who was president of Bordeaux-Metropole and himself resigned to step down due to his illness: “You have your Health has to be monitored,” he said in an interview published in our column. If I had been tested, if I had taken the necessary measures, my fate would not have been the same. We need to encourage people to get tested. Don’t be shy! » By public figures These two messages carried are essential to move the line and advance the culture of health prevention.Essential now.

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17,100 deaths per year

Colorectal cancer is the cause of 17,100 deaths each year in France, however, if detected early, it is curable in nine out of ten cases. Nine cases out of ten! Even discovered earlier, it is completely avoided. In New Aquitaine, the participation rate in screening for this cancer for the 2022-2023 campaign is 32.4%, a decrease of 2.4 points compared to 2020-2021.

“Polip removal is a simple surgical procedure”

Blue Mars is the name of this communication campaign, knowing that you can test it for free all year. without getting dirty. The new screening kits are much more reliable and practical than the earlier kits. Easy to use. Doctor Denis Smith, a digestive gastroenterologist at Bordeaux University Hospital, has chaired the board of directors of the Cancer Screening Coordination Center in New Aquitaine for five years. He is particularly well-placed to support this mobilization: “Every day I see sick people in my department, even 50 or 60-year-olds. Cancer is mostly preventable, but if caught too late, the disease is fatal. »

Younger and younger patients

“The disease is definitely progressing a little less than expected due to the effectiveness of organized screening,” believes the doctor. I see patients who are younger and younger, in good shape, cut down by disease. In the United States, the incidence has doubled in the past 20 years among people under the age of 50. the reason Lifestyle, poor diet, obesity and sedentary lifestyle. In France, colorectal cancer is a rare disease before the age of 50, and even then cases are increasing. However, it is a preventable cancer. Polyp removal is a simple surgical procedure that can be performed during a colonoscopy. Either the polyp will still be healthy, or the cancer will be diagnosed at an early stage. Treatment will be mild. You should know that colorectal cancer has no symptoms for many years. By the time symptoms appear, it’s almost too late. The disease has taken hold…”

Events in France are stabilizing

For prevention, starting at age 50, a fecal test is needed every two years. All you have to do is plant the stylus through the sling attached to the bowl, in the stool collected in the toilet. Screening kits distributed by general practitioners and now pharmacists and soon nurses are comprehensive and easy to use. “If blood is found in the collected stool, the user will receive a letter instructing them to undergo a colonoscopy in the following week,” emphasizes Dr. Smith. Only 5% test positive. Today, colonoscopy is an examination that requires short anesthesia in outpatient mode, the procedures are certainly simple, the scanner is not enough to detect the presence of small polyps. About one in ten times, a colonoscopy detects early cancer and 3 out of 10 times a simple polyp that will be removed during the colonoscopy. »

In New Aquitaine, 30% of those invited to test do so. It is still very little, but slowly the taboo is being lifted, speaking personalities, especially the actress Clementine Saleri, the footballer Basil spoke. Public health messages are disseminated throughout society. “The planned screening is bearing fruit, less quickly than we would like, but still positive,” Dr. Dennis Smith. Today we all know that we should fight a sedentary lifestyle, move around, do daily physical activity, do sports regularly, eat less red meat and above all, fibres, fibres, fibres, are our companions. This is true for colorectal cancer, but also for many other pathologies. Death from colorectal cancer is no longer inevitable. »