ONCOLOGY
Calling attention to
colorectal cancer
A harmonisation of screening programmes for colorectal cancer and increased participation
rates needs to become a key priority for governments across Europe
Evelien Dekker MD PhD
University of Amsterdam
Faculty of Medicine,
The Netherlands
Colorectal cancer is Europe’s second biggest
cancer killer, claiming the lives of nearly 200,000
people across the continent each year. Current
trends predict that the burden of colorectal
cancer could increase by 12% by 2020, affecting
502,000 Europeans a year by 2020. 1
Colorectal cancer screening acts as the most
effective method in improving prognosis and
preventing the disease. The heavily time-
dependent nature of colorectal cancer means that
there is a much higher chance of survival the
earlier the cancer is detected, as early cancers
have a survival rate of 90–95%. 2 Despite the
obvious threat posed by the disease and the
possible advances screening programmes hold,
access to effective screening programmes and
treatment differs significantly across Europe.
Currently, eastern Europe is falling behind the
west in the quality and efficacy of screening
3
HHE 2019 | hospitalhealthcare.com
programmes and quality assurance mechanisms
in these countries are not widespread. Low
participation rates in screening programmes are
frequent in eastern Europe, with many countries
falling short of the 65% participation rate
considered necessary by the European
Commission. The inequality of access is
highlighted when comparing the participation
rates between Hungary and The Netherlands;
whilst The Netherlands has attained a 72%
participation rate, Hungary has a participation
rate of just 0.6%. These inequalities act as an
example for the insufficient efforts made by
many governments across Europe to make
colorectal cancer screening an accessible service
and a key public health concern. European
governments should be aiming to offer
appropriate screening tests to the whole target
population to detect colorectal cancer when it is