2023-07-11 13:57:00
A trend that is disturbing. Public Health France recently published a study which shows that the French are being screened less and less for breast cancer and colorectal cancer.
Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women
Fewer and fewer French women are getting to screen for breast cancer and has been since the early 2010s.
In 2018, 12,000 women have died from breast cancermaking it the leading cause of death from cancer in women.
The Public Health France study reveals the percentages of participation in recent years in screening: 52% in 2012, 48.5% in 2019 and 50.6% in 2021. It should be noted that participation over the 2020-2021 period is lower than that of the 2018-2019 period.
The participation rate differs according to the regions and would be very low in Île-de-France and in the South-East.
Colorectal cancer is under-detected
Breast cancer isn’t the only one with declining detection rates, colorectal cancer screening is also falling according to a second study by Public Health France.
Colorectal cancer kills 17,000 people a year in France.
The participation rate in the DOCCR program (organized colorectal cancer screening program) between 2010 and 2014 rose from 31.8% to 29.5%. In 2016-2027, it reached 33.1% following switching to the FIT test before decreasing to 28.8% in 2019-2020 according to the study.
Unlike breast cancer, “the health crisis linked to the Covid pandemic in 2020 and then in 2021 does not seem to have had a significant impact on participation in the DOCCR program at the national level” reports the study.
The participation rate in the DOCCR program is below European recommendations (45%).
What are the reasons for this under-screening?
With regard to breast cancer, the controversy around its effectiveness and its overdiagnosis would have influenced women in their choice whether to get tested or not.
The decline in medical supply in senology would also be one of the causes of under-screening for breast cancer.
The Covid would also be in question since screening centers closed and stopped sending invitations during the pandemic, radiology practices closed and then limited their activities and the population having been confined on several occasions limited travel.
However, the study does not specify the possible causes of the drop in the rate of colorectal cancer screening.
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