Piro – Bowel Cancer

Research

1. Patient-reported diagnostic intervals to colorectal cancer diagnosis in the Midland region of New Zealand: a prospective cohort study (opens on the publisher’s website)

   Family Practice · 2022

   Tania Blackmore, Lynne Chepulis, Keenan Rawiri, Jacquie Kidd, Tim Stokes, Melissa Firth, Mark Elwood, David Weller, Jon Emery, Ross Lawrenson

   What it found

   Over half of patients (96 of 176, 54.5%) had a total diagnostic interval longer than 120 days; median total interval was 142 days. A third (36.9%) had a GP diagnostic interval over 120 days. Reporting rectal bleeding was linked to a shorter interval (OR 0.34). Longer intervals were linked to being under 60 (OR 3.32 for the appraisal interval), being female (OR 2.19) and being Maaori (OR 3.18, 95% CI 1.04-9.78) for the GP diagnostic interval specifically.

   How it was done

   prospective cohort study, structured interviews using the Model of Pathways to Treatment framework; 176 patients analysed of 235 recruited, April 2018 to March 2020

   Why it matters

   It locates part of the delay to colorectal cancer diagnosis inside the GP diagnostic interval for Maaori patients specifically, rather than in how long patients themselves take to seek care.

   What it does not settle

   Self-reported intervals depend on patient recall; the Maaori OR's confidence interval is wide (1.04-9.78), reflecting a small number of Maaori patients in the 176-patient sample - the paper does not give that subgroup count directly. Read as full text via PMC.

   Full textfull text, read via the PubMed Central open-access copy (PMC9295611) rather than the Oxford Academic page, which shows only the abstract to a non-subscriber

   Read it free: Patient-reported diagnostic intervals to colorectal cancer diagnosis in the Midland region of New Zealand: a prospective cohort study (opens on another organisation’s website)DOI 10.1093/fampra/cmab155

2. Bowel cancer screening age range for Māori: what is all the fuss about? (opens on the publisher’s website)

   New Zealand Medical Journal, Vol 134 No 1535, pp 71-77 · 2021

   Melissa McLeod, Ricci Harris, Sarah-Jane Paine, Sue Crengle, Donna Cormack, Nina Scott, Bridget Robson

   What it found

   The authors argue for extending bowel screening down to age 50 for Māori. Their reasoning: 58% of bowel cancers in Māori women and 52% in Māori men occur before age 60, against 27% and 29% in non-Māori respectively - a gap the article attributes to Māori having a younger population age structure, not to a higher age-specific cancer rate (rates were similar by age band in 2017). Even a start age of 50 would still miss roughly 30% of affected Māori women and 25% of affected Māori men.

   How it was done

   viewpoint/opinion article, not primary research, drawing on national bowel cancer incidence-by-age data

   Why it matters

   Reframes the screening-age debate as a population-structure and equity question rather than a dispute about who gets cancer at what rate.

   What it does not settle

   I read this through a page-rendering tool rather than the raw article myself, so treat the specific percentages as the article's own reported figures relayed through that extraction rather than something I visually verified character-by-character. This is the authors' argued position, not a systematic review.

   Full textfull text (article page content, not merely an abstract)

   Read it free: Bowel cancer screening age range for Māori: what is all the fuss about? (opens on another organisation’s website)

3. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer diagnosis and service access in New Zealand–a country pursuing COVID-19 elimination (opens on the publisher’s website)

   2021

   What it found

   Using national data on cancer registrations, diagnostic testing (including endoscopy) and treatment volumes, the authors compare 2020 against 2018-2019, split by ethnicity. Registrations dropped by around 40% during the March-April 2020 lockdown, then recovered to pre-lockdown levels by around August-September 2020. Surgery and medical oncology saw comparatively little disruption; radiation therapy volumes were down about 8% year-on-year, which the authors attribute partly to a shift toward shorter treatment courses rather than fewer patients treated. Outcome patterns were broadly similar across ethnic groups, though lung cancer diagnosis for Māori is again flagged as an area of concern.

   How it was done

   descriptive national service-data report, 2020 compared with 2018-2019, stratified by ethnicity

   Why it matters

   It offers early evidence that a country pursuing COVID-19 elimination was able to protect its cancer diagnostic and treatment pathway through the pandemic's first year, in contrast to countries that saw sustained falls in cancer diagnosis during 2020.

   What it does not settle

   This covers 2020 only and does not speak to later, more sustained periods of community transmission after New Zealand moved away from elimination.

   Full textFull text via PMC (thelancet.com itself returned a 403 error)

4. The most commonly diagnosed and most common causes of cancer death for Māori New Zealanders (opens on the publisher’s website)

   New Zealand Medical Journal, vol 133, no 1521, pages 77-96 (4 September 2020) · 2020

   Jason K Gurney, Bridget Robson, Jonathan Koea, Nina Scott, James Stanley, Diana Sarfati

   What it found

   Ranks the most commonly diagnosed cancers and the most common causes of cancer death for Māori using registry and mortality data from 2007-2016. Lung cancer was both the most diagnosed (around 401 registrations a year, 42 per 100,000) and the leading cause of death (around 311 deaths a year, 32 per 100,000), ahead of breast, prostate and colorectal for diagnoses, and breast and colorectal for deaths. Māori incidence exceeded non-Māori for most of these cancers, most markedly for lung, and the paper documents a broader survival gap across cancer types.

   How it was done

   descriptive epidemiology, national cancer registry and mortality data for Māori, 2007-2016

   Why it matters

   Gives a ranked, Māori-specific picture of where the cancer burden actually falls, useful for prioritising advocacy and services rather than working from unranked or non-Māori-specific figures.

   What it does not settle

   Full text read directly on the NZMJ site (confirmed open access, PDF available). Data run to 2016 - now roughly a decade old - so more recent registry updates may have shifted the exact figures even if the ranking holds.

   Full textfull text (nzmj.org.nz, open access)

   Read it free: The most commonly diagnosed and most common causes of cancer death for Māori New Zealanders (opens on another organisation’s website)

In our library

Nothing in our own library is specific to bowel cancer. What we publish is mostly cross-cutting – annual reports, evaluations and reports that span the whole cancer pathway – and all of it is at Rauemi.