February 03, 2023
In France, the public authorities have set up organized screenings for three types of cancer: breast, cervix and colorectal. Who are they for? How are they going?
382,000 new cases in 2018, according to the latest data available from Public Health France. These are the figures for cancer in France. Among these diseases, colorectal cancer (3rd cancer in men with 23,000 new cases in 2018 and 2nd in women with 20,000 cases), breast cancer (most common in women, with 58,000 cases) and cervical cancer (12th female cancer with 3,000 cases) are affected by screenings organized by the public authorities. That is to say supported by Medicare (100% for colorectal cancer and breast cancer, 70% for that of the cervix).
On the other hand, and even if they are the most common in men, prostate cancer and lung cancer are not (yet?) the subject of organized screening.
What is it regarding ? These screening actions target people who belong to the age group in which the disease is most common. “This consists of carrying out one or more examinations on a regular basis in order to detect cancer as early as possible, at a stage where treatment will offer the best possible results”explains the Arc Foundation for Cancer Research. “In certain cases, it also makes it possible to identify precancerous lesions, that is to say benign anomalies likely to become cancerous without treatment”.
Le cancer colorectal. Screening for colorectal cancer concerns men and women aged 50 to 74. Every two years, they receive a letter from Medicare inviting them to talk regarding it with their doctor, who can give them a screening kit. Since March 1, 2022, it is also possible to order these kits online (monkit.depistage-colorectal.fr) and receive it directly at home. Pharmacists can also provide these screening tests, even if you have not received the invitation. Hygienic and very easy to use, it consists of looking for blood in stool fragments, using a rod to be replaced in an airtight tube. It is sent to a laboratory for analysis.
If the results reveal abnormalities, the patient is invited to have a colonoscopy performed by a gastroenterologist. The examination makes it possible to detect a possible colorectal cancer and to remove benign tumors likely to evolve into cancer. When detected early, this cancer is cured in 9 out of 10 cases.
Breast cancer. Breast cancer screening is recommended for women aged 50 to 74 who have no family history or symptoms suggestive of breast cancer. So why screening? Because age is a risk factor in itself, and it is in this age group that women are most vulnerable. “Screening examinations are precisely surveillance examinations, in the absence of symptoms”, recalls the Medicare. This is a mammography (breast X-ray) associated with a clinical breast examination (observation and palpation).
As part of organized screening, a second systematic reading of mammograms deemed normal is carried out. Other examinations may be necessary in the event of an anomaly being detected. “According to figures from international studies, breast cancer screening programs can reduce breast cancer mortality by 15 to 21%”according to Medicare.
Cervical cancer. It is to detect this cancer that a smear is recommended every three years for women aged 25 to 65. It is, in the vast majority of cases, due to certain human papillomaviruses (HPV) which are transmitted sexually. The body usually manages to eliminate them naturally, but sometimes they persist and cause lesions in the cervix, which may eventually evolve into cancer. The smear therefore consists of identifying anomalies in order to treat them early.
The fight once morest the HPVs responsible for cancers of the cervix also involves preventive vaccination of girls and boys aged 11 to 14 years. “Practiced before the start of sexual life, the effectiveness of vaccination in preventing infection by the HPVs included in the vaccine is close to 100%”indicates the government website Vaccination-Info-Service.
To note : In France, the rates of participation in these organized screenings are generally low: on average 30% for colorectal cancer, 50% for breast cancer and 60% for cancer of the cervix, figures which have fallen since the pandemic. As for people affected by a family history of cancer or knowing they are predisposed due to a genetic anomaly, they present particular risk factors which require specific and adapted screening. Talk to your doctor.
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Source : Public Health France – Arc Foundation – Health insurance – National Cancer Institute – Vaccination-Info-Service – January 2023
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Written by : Charlotte David – Edited by: Emmanuel Ducreuzet
