Early detection can save lives, and rapid tests, already available in Hungary, can prevent big trouble.
Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. 3rd for men and 2nd for women. place.
Hungary unfortunately in the lead
In 2020, there will be more than 1.9 million new cases of colorectal cancer worldwide. The World Cancer Research Fund International, a
the International Agency for Research on Cancer
Hungary had the highest rate of new cases, with almost 10,000 new cases. Within this group, it was more common among men (5502), but was also significant among women (4291). In terms of prevalence rates and population shares, Hungarian men are the world leaders, ahead of Slovakia and Norway; while women are fourth. In 2020, 935,000 people worldwide were affected by the disease, with the highest proportion of deaths in Slovakia, ahead of Hungary with 4880 deaths (2730 men, 2150 women).
Statistics show that around half of those diagnosed do not survive the disease. However, this type of cancer can be treated with very good chances of success with early detection and careful therapy. However, early detection is apparently not easy; colorectal cancer is an insidious disease that develops over many years in the body, often without the typical symptoms of the patient in the early stages. In fact, polyps and malignant tumours usually do not cause pain initially.
Symptoms and what to do
As previously reported
on our blog,
colon cancer is a malignant lesion that starts in the mucous membrane and develops slowly. (The large intestine is the last section of the digestive tract, about one and a half metres long, where faeces are formed after the residual water content of the intestinal contents has been reabsorbed.) It usually starts as a polyp, which is a growth of tissue protruding from the lining of the large intestine towards the intestinal cavity. Unfortunately, medical science does not yet know the exact cause and mechanism of colon cancer. There may be a background of inflammatory disease, genetic predisposition, and the chance of developing a tumour increases with age, especially after the age of 50.
Symptoms may include mucus or bloody stools, permanent changes in bowel movements, abdominal pain, anaemia due to bleeding from the tumour, which is hardly noticeable with bloody stools. If the tumour is detected early, it can be well treated and cured with radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgery, thanks to modern targeted therapies.
This is why it is important to detect the presence of a tumour as early as possible, preferably in the asymptomatic period. The disease can be diagnosed by colonoscopy or laboratory tests following blood sampling, but it is more convenient to do a stool blood test at home, as well as a rapid enzymatic colorectal cancer screening test, or even a combination of both .
What does the combination of tests show?
Available also in pharmacies in Hungary, with a European Union self-testing approval
myCARE faecal occult blood (FOB) test,
is an immunological test for the detection of human haemoglobin (hHb) in faeces. The membrane of the test strip is coated with an anti-HB antibody and can show a positive result with high sensitivity – above 0.05 μg/ml HHb concentration (equivalent to about 0.03 mg/g blood in faeces).
A detailed description of how the test works can be found in the box, so if you read carefully you should have no problems using it. (The test is positive if two purple stripes appear in the result window after 5 minutes for the reaction, at both the “C” and the “T”. The test is negative if there is only one purple stripe at the letter ‘C’, i.e. no blood in the stool.)
In the case of a negative result, a tumour cannot be completely ruled out, because tumours can be found in about. a quarter of them do not bleed continuously. But if positive, blood in the stool could be a symptom of another disease (haemorrhoids, bleeding peptic ulcer, autoimmune bowel disease, etc.)
If the test is positive, be sure to tell your doctor, who will try to find out the cause of the blood in the stool and may recommend a colonoscopy.
If you have a positive stool blood test, be sure to have a rapid enzyme colorectal cancer screening test, which is
Schebo® M2-PK™ Quick,
which detects the enzyme pyruvate kinase (M2-PK) produced during tumour cell metabolism. This test is useful even if the faecal blood test was negative. If the result of an enzymatic intestinal tumour screening test is positive, then there is a tumour in your body, which can be either benign or malignant.
However, the results of the latter test are not immediately available in your home: the test has to be carefully packaged, sent by post and carried out in a laboratory. The faster test is completed in 5 working days and the more accurate one in 4 weeks. The price of the test package includes the sending of the test results within the borders of Hungary and the full cost of testing the sample.