May 09, 2024
Spike in Māori early onset bowel cancer
The rate of early onset bowel cancer among Māori is now 10 percent higher that the overall rate.
A new study from the University of Otago compared Māori and non-Māori data for 56,671 New Zealanders diagnosed with colorectal cancer between 2000 and 2020.
Researcher Frank Frizelle says while rates declined among 60 to 74 year olds eligible for free bowel screening, increasing numbers of people under 50 were getting cancer.
That has a deadly cost.
“A third of people under 50, by the time they’re diagnosed they have incurable disease, which is way too high. So changing the awareness of this helps. Real movement is about getting screening to a lower age,” Professor Frizelle says
Frank Frizelle says countries with lower screening ages are able to lower bowel cancer deaths through earlier detection and greater generational awareness.