The effectiveness of cancer prevention and treatment in UK Essay

The effectiveness of cancer prevention and treatment in UK - Essay Example disdain many years of public health research initiatives, the incidence of colon cancer has not declined for over ten years in the UK.Nevertheless, the mortality rank for colon cancer have declined appreciably over the past half century today, more than 50% of patients with colon cancer live for at to the lowest degree 10 years after diagnosis. Moreover, research studies have provided strong evidence that patients diagnosed at the earliest stages of disease have a greater than 90% bechance of long-term survival. These data indicate that public health measures directed at increasing the detection of colon cancer at earlier stages of disease would positively influence current mortality rates for this disease (Jepson et al, 2005).The rationale for developing a screening and prevention program for colon cancer in the UK involves the concomitant that this type of cancer is known to progress slowly and is curabl e in its earliest stages (du Toit, 2006). The presence of polyps in the colon is an important risk factor for the growing of colon cancer. The screening and diagnostic technologies currently available afford a practical and useful diagnostic screening tool for population screening on a large scale. The biology of this type of cancer lends itself to a population based screening approach as the source of malignancy is the slow fault of the benign tumor to an aggressive transformed state over a period of years. Early detection by screening for the presence of polyps comprises a valid and rational approach to cancer prevention. The Dukes diagnostic criteria for colon cancer staging and grading argon used to identify the clinical course of disease as it progresses through designated stages (A-D). A is the earliest stage which is associated with a 93% cure rate however, only 9% of patients are diagnosed at this stage, Conversely, approximately 25% of patients are detected at stage C, a significantly more advanced