| Abstract [eng] |
INTRODUCTION: Lithuania's colorectal cancer (CRC) screening program originated in June 2009 and from January 2014 onwards, the program covers a population aged between 50 to 74. CRC screening program is based on reducing the incidence and mortality by removal of advanced adenoma and the early detection of the disease. AIM: To assess the impact of colorectal cancer screening on the mortality rates in Lithuania METHODS: This study consists of a retrospective review of prospectively maintained data extracted from the National Colorectal Cancer Screening database of all individuals aged 50-74 who participated in the national colorectal screening program between the years 2013-2019 in Lithuania. The data on survival was extracted from the same database. We performed statistical data analysis using R statistical software package V 4.2.2 (2022-10-31) (© 2022 The R Foundation for Statistical Computing), RStudio 2022.07.2 Build 576 © 2009–2022 RStudio, PBC. RESULTS: 4% of individuals, who tested negative on the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) died, as compared to 5% of FIT-positive patients, who either had a normal colonoscopy or had adenoma, polyp, or normal tissues on colonoscopy biopsy; 8 % of patients, who had high-grade dysplasia died as well as 19% of those, that had biopsy-proven CRC. The mortality risk in FIT-positive individuals who did not undergo screening colonoscopy was significantly (78%) higher than in those, who completed their colonoscopy (9% vs 5%). Overall, completing FIT screening is associated with a reduced risk of death over 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: There is a strong correlation between the results of CRC screening results and the overall risk of death over the period of 5 years. Completing CRC screening in FIT-positive patients is associated with a 78 % reduction in the risk of death. |
