A month-long campaign in March to bring down the rates of colorectal cancer is
being launched Tuesday by the Israel Cancer Association (ICA) along with its
counterparts around the world.
Malignant colorectal tumors are
preventible, and when caught as precancerous polyps, growths can be safely
removed. While screening and early detection have significantly increased
in the last few years due to ICA efforts, the tumor is still diagnosed annually
in 3,400 Israelis – especially those over the age of 50 – and kills
1,240.
RELATED:
‘Pure Sephardim’ liable to carry mutation for cancer
ICA: Take care of your body and cut cancer rate in half More than a third of Israelis in the population targeted for
screening have undergone simple tests to detect blood in the stools, a possible
sign of malignancy, but fewer have had an invasive colonoscopy to examine the
rectum and colon with an endoscope looking for tumors or precancerous polyps,
said Prof. Gad Rennert, director of the national program for early detection of
colorectal cancer.
Colonoscopies for the target population are included
in the basket of health services.
ICA director-general Miri Ziv said at a
Monday press conference that International Agency for Research on Cancer of the
World Health Organization nevertheless ranks Israel as one of the countries
where the prevalence of colorectal cancer is high, partly due to genetic
reasons.
A new discovery that is currently being reviewed by geneticists,
epidemiologists and oncologists is a genetic mutation that puts Jews of North
African origin at high risk of colon cancer. Rennert said that carriers who
inherited the mutation from both parents are at almost 100 percent risk of
contracting the malignancy at some times in their lives. As a result of the
finding, a test for the gene is recommended by the researchers for all Jews of
North African descent over the age of 50 who have a family history of colorectal
cancer.
Among the latest retrospective foreign studies on colorectal
cancer are those (published in the
British Medical Journal) that show a
connection between it and low levels of vitamin D in the blood. Thus people at
risk are urged to go to their doctor to ask about vitamin D
supplementation.
Others have linked the frequent drinking of coffee with
a lower risk of the tumor, however, researchers have said that it may not
involve a causative effect, as people suffering from inflammatory bowel disease
that raises the cancer risk drink less coffee than the norm because it makes
them feel ill.
Taking low-dose aspirin for years has been shown by German
scientists to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, but the commonly used drug
can also raise the risk of hemorrhage in the digestive system. However, studies
show that taking such aspirin does not create false positive results in
screening for blood in the stools. Doctors should be consulted about this, and
patients should not take aspirin without consultation.