Outcomes of the Colon Cancer Prevention and Early Diagnosis Program at the Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kaunas Clinics Family Medicine Clinic

Abstract

Background. The problem is of outstanding importance, since colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide. In most cases, colon cancer is diagnosed incidentally in the patients who seek medical attention for various reasons or when the typical symptoms of colon cancer appear. To detect colon cancer as early as possible in most countries every 2 years, an early cancer diagnosis program is being suggested for patients aged 50 to 74 years by family physicians. It includes performing and evaluating immunochemical secret blood test (iFOBT) in faeces. This detailed examination allows to confirm or deny the diagnosis of colon cancer and establish it at an early stage. Aim. The aim of the current study was to evaluate outcomes of the colon cancer prevention and early diagnosis program at the Hospital of Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kaunas Clinics Family Medicine Clinic. Methods. The study was conducted at LSMUL Family Medicine Clinic. Data were collected from personal health histories to evaluate the results of patients undergoing a colonoscopy under the prophylactic program. Patients’ age ranged in from 50 to 74 inclusive. We studied 1015 patients’ charts. Patients, who had positive iFOBT results, underwent colonoscopy. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using the software package SPSS 22.0 and Microsoft Office Excel 2010. Results. Overall, 1015 charts were examined. The hidden blood in the stool test was found to be positive for 112 subjects: 48 (43%) men and 64 (57%) women, p=0.66. The study found that iFOBT results were positive in patients with the mean age of 62.79 years, SD=6.14. The test did not show gender dependency, p=0.66, however, the tendencies show the higher incidence of positive iFOBT results in women 57% than in men 43%. Furthermore, 14.4% patients with positive iFOBT result declined further testing. Other tendencies demonstrate that after colonoscopy most common diagnoses were colon polyp 22.9%, p=0.17 and hemorrhoidal nodes 20.8%, p=0.55. Conclusion. The tendencies demonstrate the higher incidence of positive iFOBT results in women than in men. The most frequent pathology among colonoscopy findings are colon polyps, which are also more common in men compered to women. The vast majority of patients seek further examination after getting a positive result of iFOBT.