18 Mar From Screening to Prevention: a reminder of the urgency of Colorectal Cancer prevention and diagnosis
in www.saudedigestiva.pt – 10 March, 2025
As part of the European Month for the Fight Against Bowel Cancer, marked in March, the Portuguese Society of Gastroenterology (SPG) calls for urgent prevention through early diagnosis and suggests the creation of a screening program to overcome the delays caused by the pandemic as soon as possible.
The high incidence and mortality of Colorectal Cancer (CCR) in Portugal and the existence of a curative treatment, which is more effective the earlier the diagnosis, justifies the importance of screening through colonoscopy. By making it possible to intervene at a single diagnostic and therapeutic moment, it helps to prevent new cases.
In 2020, 150,000 fewer colonoscopies were performed than in 2019. The worsening of the Covid-19 pandemic situation has led to resources being directed towards fighting the pandemic and, consequently, has led to a delay in scheduling and carrying out tests.
The delay in diagnosing CCR has an impact not only on detecting bowel cancer in its early stages, which are therefore more easily treatable, but also on the possibility of preventing new cases from appearing.
This trend will affect not only the number of diagnoses, some in advanced stages, but also the increase in mortality. It will be difficult to counteract the impact of this delay without an immediate recovery plan that also considers the waiting lists that have grown in hospitals and will need to be resolved.
The SPG therefore reinforces the imperative need to organize an effective national screening programme that promotes true prevention, as only colonoscopy can provide. In addition, the specialists call on citizens to adopt a conscientious attitude when looking for an endoscopic solution for screening and prevention.
For Professor Guilherme Macedo, chairman of the SPG’s colon cancer prevention committee, “there is an urgent need to alert the population to the high incidence and mortality of this disease, which can be prevented through effective and timely diagnosis”. He also reinforces that “it is time to implement a national strategy based on colonoscopy, with equal access for all citizens to prevention and treatment, in order to make up for the delays caused by the pandemic”.
Finally, the SPG would also like to point out that lifestyles also play an important role in the prevention of CCR, with diets high in processed foods, smoking and high alcohol consumption being strongly associated with the development of the pathology.