The second edition of the DON'T HAVE IT GOD campaign, which aims to raise awareness of colorectal cancer among Poles, is being launched by the EuropaColon Poland Foundation. Colorectal cancer is the only cancer of the digestive system that can be prevented. It is easily diagnosed by undergoing a colonoscopy or performing a faecal occult blood test. Colorectal cancer, if detected early, offers an almost 90 per cent certainty of cure. It is estimated that in the next 10 years the number of colorectal cancer patients will increase to approximately 27,000. The CowZdrowiu.pl portal is a media patron of the campaign.
We currently have 19,000 new cases per year, including 12,000 deaths, because in Poland colorectal cancer is detected too late - often at stage III or IV of the disease, which accounts for more than 65 per cent of newly diagnosed cases.
In the first edition, the emphasis was on prevention. This year we want to be closer to the patient who has already been diagnosed with colorectal cancer. - explains Iga Rawicka, President EuropaColon Foundation Poland.
- As part of our activities, we continue to educate people about preventing colorectal cancer by knowing the risk factors and symptoms that should not be ignored. We encourage people to come in for colorectal cancer screening after the age of 50, as early detection offers the chance of a complete cure. During the second edition, we accompany and support the colorectal cancer patient through the next stages of the disease. - adds Rawicka.
More Colorectal Cancer Competence Centres, or so-called Colorectal Cancer Unity, are being established in Poland from June 2021. Each hospital must meet a number of criteria to be able to sign a contract with the National Health Fund. For example, a suitably equipped CT scanning laboratory, MRI scanning laboratory and endoscopy laboratory are essential. The hospital should demonstrate the required number of endoscopic examinations and colorectal cancer operations, and the multidisciplinary team is expected to include oncologists, oncology surgeons, a radiotherapist, a pathomorphologist, as well as a psychologist, a physiotherapist, a dietician and a team of oncology nurses. The patient's next steps from admission to hospital to post-treatment follow-up are to be supervised by a coordinator, whose role is to facilitate the flow of information between doctor and patient and oversee a comprehensive treatment plan.
Such requirements are met by Bialystok Oncology Centre i Lower Silesia Centre for Oncology, Pulmonology and Haematologywith which the EuropaColon Poland Foundation has been working for several years. What's more, DCOPiH was the first hospital in Poland and the second in Europe to receive international iPAAC certification for its Bowel Cancer Treatment Centre.
He talks about the certification process doctor. Aleksandra Sztuder in specially prepared as part of the "Don't Have It Somewhere" campaign videoswith the participation of many other specialists from the DCOPiH and BCO.
In materials prepared for patients, team members explain, among other things, what modern radiotherapy is, especially stereotactic radiotherapy, used in the case of metastatic tumours, or about the TATME operation (acronym for: Transanal Total Mesorectal Excision or laparoscopic Transanal Total Rectal Excision surgery), an innovative procedure that allows the rectal sphincter to be saved in patients with low-lying rectal tumours. A physiotherapist explains why rehabilitation is important in the recovery process and why it is important to get up as soon as possible after surgery, while a stoma nurse dispels myths about stomas.
Prof. Adam Maciejczyk, Director of the Lower Silesian Centre for Oncology, Pulmonology and Haematology considers that
- Bowel Cancer Competence Centres provide a much higher quality of treatment for this cancer.
Prof. Marek Bêbenek, Head of the Colorectal Cancer Unit at DCOPiH confirms that
- Focusing on a single organ gives decidedly better results, making the team very experienced.
And Dr Kamil Safiejko, medical oncologist at the Bialystok Oncology Centre confirms that
- Each patient will receive comprehensive care, so that they do not feel lost. This is also what the introduction of a coordinator into the multidisciplinary team, who guides the patient through each stage of treatment, is designed to achieve.
- All of the above throughout the treatment process of a patient with bowel cancer has resulted in an increase in the quality of patient care, multidisciplinary teams are more experienced and therefore more effective. In these two cancer centres alone, a total of almost 1,000 patients are admitted, more than half of whom are operated on (At the DCOPiH, 500 patients are admitted annually and 350 of these are treated surgically. In contrast, 450 patients are cared for at the BCO, of whom 200 are operated on). And these are already statistics at an international level,' assesses Iga Rawicka.
The DON'T HAVE ITSELF campaign - All about colorectal cancer will last until the end of the year.
Source: cowzdrowiu.pl