Colorectal Cancer Screening Programme

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Benefits and risks of screening

  • Benefits of having colorectal cancer screening:

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    • Early cancer detection may lead to higher rates of successful treatment
    • Successful treatment may prevent the progression of cancer
    • Treatment for early stage cancer may be mild and lead to less side effects
  • Potential risks of having colorectal cancer screening:

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    • It may fail to detect cancer even when it is present, thereby providing false reassurance
    • It may cause false alarm, unnecessary anxiety and potentially risky investigations to be done, when there is actually no cancer
    • The screening test itself, subsequent investigations and treatment may have side effects