Browsing by Author "Kankkunen, Katri"

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in Finland. It is often diagnosed at a late stage, reducing patients´ prognosis and survival. Studies have shown that screening of colorectal cancer can detect cancer at earlier stage and reduce its incidence and mortality. The most effective way of preventing colorectal cancer is to remove the premalignant cells using endoscopically.a Screening for colorectal cancer became a part of the national screening programme in Finland in the beginning of 2022. Screening is carried out according to the guidelines of the Finnish Cancer Registry Syöpärekisteri, and based on the recommendations of the EU Cancer Screening Council. The aim of the gradually expanding screening programme is to cover the population aged 56-74 by 2031. The screening of the colorectal cancer is executed in two different stages. The first screening method is a faecal immunochemical blood test (FIT) that aims to detect microscopic blood in the patient faeces. Patients who test positive in FIT are invited to the second stage of the screening for further examination. The second stage consists primarily of a full colonoscopy with biopsies. The aim of this study was to find out more about the quality and quantity of the findings in the colonoscopies performed as a part of the colorectal cancer screening in Helsinki and Uusimaa hospital district. The second aim of this study was to examine the quality of the screening colonoscopy process. The study was conducted as a retrospective, systematic review on the topic. Data was collected by combining several different patient databases. The study included 400 patients from Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kerava regions who had undergone a screening colonscopy in early 2023. The study reinforced the perception that colorectal cancer screening colonoscopies have a high incidence of findings; the most significant being a relatively high incidence of cancer and especially its precursors. Most of the cancers found were of an early stage forms. Another observation of the study is that the endoscopical part of the screening of colorectal cancer in Helsinki and Uusimaa hospital district is of a high quality and well meets the criteria set.