Bowel cancer to cost $1 billion by 2011 – more emphasis on screening programs needed

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDJun 1 2010

Findings from a new study show that more and more Australians are being diagnosed with bowel cancer and costs of treatment may well touch $1 billion next year a sharp rise from the $235 million in 2001. The study says that there are more than 13,500 Australians diagnosed with bowel cancer each year.

Lead researcher Dr Sumitra Ananda from the Royal Melbourne Hospital urges more and more people to come forth for regular screening after the age of 50 to detect the disease early when it is more treatable. She suggests a two yearly screening for all individuals over 50. However she believes current guidelines that determine the actual age of screening can often be a problem. “If you're not 55, 65 or 50 before December 2010 you miss out and there's the potential that we're going to find all these patients who were going to have bowel cancer at more advanced stages, creating a lot of psychological distress and social morbidity,” she said.

Dr. Ananda explains the increased costs that are determined by several factors. “The main reason for this increase is due to an increased incidence, mainly due to an ageing population, improved survival and more treatment options which are costly, but effective,” she said. She emphasized the need for more financial aid in prevention of the disease since newer drugs for colon cancer are expensive. “New high-cost drugs have seen the cost of treating advanced bowel cancers soar over the past decade by around $50,000 per case for advanced cancers…Yet if the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program was fully implemented, thousands of bowel cancers could be detected before they advance and require high cost treatment,” she said.

Chairperson of the Cancer Council Australia's National Bowel Cancer Screening Committee, Alison Peipers echoed Dr. Ananda’s words. ”The costs of treatment are going up and up, and we have shown that the national (bowel cancer screening) program can find earlier stage disease and so we can avoid many of those expensive cancers,” she said. At present Australians are offered a one-off screening test as they turn 50, 55 and 65. The Cancer Council is now urging the government to fund for a two yearly screening for all over 50. Ms Peipers said that this move will cost nearly $100 million but will still be worth the while since screening programmes detect at least 70 percent of colon cancers in their early stage. “The more people we have screened the more impact we can have one prevention ... there is opportunity to find lesions in the bowel and remove them before they even turn into cancer,” she said.

Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon has assured that the screening program will be introduced in phases sooner than later keeping in mind the ability of the health care system to handle the increased demands for colonoscopy and other treatment services in colon cancer.

On the brighter side doctors from the Australian Gastro Intestinal Trials Group and Sydney's clinical trials centre after intensive research have found a treatment for bowel cancer patients who are intolerant to conventional chemotherapy. They involved more than 470 patients and administered a mixture of three new drugs that could stop the spread of the cancer and had minimal side effects. The findings have just been published in the acclaimed Journal of Clinical Oncology.