Reacción a "The Basque Country’s colorectal cancer screening programme was associated with a 50 per cent reduction in mortality from this cause among adults aged 50 to 69"

The Basque Country’s screening programme is one of the programmes with the highest take-up rates in Europe, which makes it particularly suitable for assessing the benefits of these prevention strategies. Although this study is retrospective and therefore not suitable for establishing a causal relationship, it is highly relevant, with a rigorous design and a very large sample and follow-up period, which allows for robust conclusions to be drawn.

The results show that, within a few years of the screening programme being introduced, a reduction in mortality related to colorectal cancer began to be observed. This reduction in mortality may be due to a decrease in the incidence of this cancer as a result of the identification and subsequent removal of precursor lesions (advanced adenomas), as well as the early detection of cancer, as demonstrated by the high percentage of cases detected at early stages of development. In short, this study confirms the benefits of colorectal cancer screening programmes and therefore provides a further incentive to increase participation in them.