Colorectal cancer fecal screening test completion after age 74,sources and outcomes in French program

BACKGROUND Elderly patients aged at least 75 years old(Elderly_75),represent 45%of colorectal cancer(CRC)incidence.As others,the French Colorectal Cancer Screening Program(CRCSP)does not include Elderly_75.To date,there is little evidence to justify stopping screening at 74 years of age.AIM To describe CRC fecal screening test completion after age 74,source(CRCSP/Provider ordered)and outcomes of these tests.METHODS The study concerned 18704 Elderly_75 residing in eleven French districts(Ain,Doubs,Essonne,Haute-Saone,Hauts-de-Seine,Jura,Seine-Saint-Denis,Territoire-de-Belfort,Val-de-Marne,Val-d'Oise,Yonne),having performed a CRC screening test between January 2008 and December 2017.The tests performed in a circumstance of delayed response to a solicitation(DRS)from the local cancer screening managing center(Managing-Center)were distinguished from the tests non-solicited by the Managing-Center,performed after a recommendation by a General Practitioner(GP)or other provider ordered(RGP).DRS was any test realized by an Elderly_75 following an initial invitation from the ManagingCenter with a maximum 24 mo after this invitation.Any Non-DRS test was considered RGP.The outcomes of these tests were described according to the circumstances of test completion.RESULTS Of 18995 screening-tests were performed at ages:75(83.5%),76-80(13.4%)and>80(3.1%)years old.Elderly_75 performed the screening test in a circumstance of DRS(71.9%)or RGP(28.1%).The proportion of the tests that could not be analyzed and not restarted was 13.2%.For these unanalyzed tests,the reason was age-related in 78.0%of cases,related to the laboratory's refusal to analyze the test of people aged≥77.Reported colonoscopy completion rate was 81.3%.For those575 people with reported colonoscopy,no complication was listed.18.0%of the366 Elderly_75 with lesions had no anteriority in the CRCSP.The neoplasia(124 Low-risk-polyps,159 High-risk-polyps,13 Unspecified-polyps and 70 CRCs)detection rate was 19.3/1000 Elderly_75 screened and the CRC detection rate was3.7/1000 Elderly_75 screened.CONCLUSION The high rate of colonoscopy completion after a positive test and the high proportion of screened lesions observed suggest that the lengthening of the screening period could allow significant detection of CRC and polyps that occur in Elderly_75 excluded from CRCSP.