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Piro – Bowel Cancer

On this page: resources published by other organisations, then the research assessed for this site.

This page points at research, and at resources published by other organisations. It is not advice about your own care or treatment.

Published by other organisations

3 booklets and reports published by other organisations. These belong to whoever wrote them and are not hosted here.

Research

4 papers on bowel cancer, from the research assessed for this site. Each is summarised below in words written for this site, not the authors’ own.

  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.

    Full textFull text, via the open-access copy at PMC (PMC9295611). The publisher's own version is subscription-only.

    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
    The percentages are the article's own reported figures. This is the authors' argued position, not a systematic review.

    Full textFull text, via the article page.

    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 the open-access copy at PMC.

  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
    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, via 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)

How this page was put together

The research summaries

Each summary was written for this site, and it is not the authors’ own abstract. None of it has been reviewed by Hei Āhuru Mōwai. Of the papers listed here, 4 were read in full. Each entry carries the note of what was read, because a summary built from an abstract carries less weight than one built from the paper.

Resources published by other organisations

Each one opens a record on this site naming the publisher, carrying their own note about the edition and about how they are funded where they give one. The document itself is on the publisher’s website. None of it is hosted here, and it remains theirs.

Which of these appear, and how they are grouped, is a choice made for this site. It is not Hei Āhuru Mōwai’s view on what any of them says.

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