Biological and prognostic differences between symptomatic colorectal carcinomas and those detected by screening

Patient and tumour characteristics of screening‐age adults diagnosed with screen‐detected versus symptomatic colon cancer

“…To our knowledge, this is among the few studies in the United States to examine the proportion of individuals with colon cancer diagnosed by screening, the differences between people diagnosed by screening versus symptomatic presentation, and the trend over time in these modes of detection. In our study population using high‐quality data from two integrated healthcare delivery systems, we found that >60% people with colon cancer were diagnosed following symptomatic presentation, although the proportion that were diagnosed following screening increased over time and was higher than has been reported in several other studies [8–20]. In addition, those with lower BMI and more comorbidities, and those with stage II cancers, were less likely to be diagnosed by screening.…”

“…Research to date suggests that most colon cancers are diagnosed after patients present with symptoms [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. For example, the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership, consisting of eight developed countries with similar healthcare systems and screening programs (Wales, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Canada, Sweden, Australia), reported that across the jurisdictions 16.1% of colorectal cancers were diagnosed after screening [15].…”