COLON CANCER DANGER: More Jamaicans dying from disease, says scientist... The disclosure was made by Professor Joseph Plummer, who heads the Department of Surgery, Radiology, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at UWI in Kingston

BY ANIKA RICHARDS Associate editor — news richardsai@jamaicaobserver.com  Tuesday, March 26, 2019

MORE people are dying from colorectal cancer (CRC) in Jamaica.

In fact, the country is also seeing an increase in the number of colorectal cancer diagnoses.

Yulit Gordon, executive director of the Jamaica Cancer
 Society, speaking during a media briefing at her
St Andrew office earlier this month. (Photo: Norman Thomas) 

The disclosure was made by Professor Joseph Plummer, who heads the Department of Surgery, Radiology, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care at The University of the West Indies in Kingston, in e-mailed responses to questions from the Jamaica Observer.

“Based on data from the Jamaica Cancer Registry, there is an increase in the number of colorectal cancers being diagnosed locally, especially in men. Additionally, over the past decade, there is a gradual increase in the number of deaths attributable to colorectal cancers based of data from the Registrar General's Department (RGD),” Professor Plummer said.

Yulit Gordon, executive director of the Jamaica Cancer Society, said at a media briefing earlier this month that cancer of the colon is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the Jamaican population — behind prostate and lung cancer in males, and behind breast and cancer of the cervix in females.

She went on to cite 2018 statistics for Jamaica from the Global Cancer Observatory.

“The Global Cancer Observatory statistics for Jamaica for 2018 revealed that there were 642 new cases of colon cancer, which represented 9.44 per cent of all cancers in Jamaica. It further revealed that 373 persons died from colon cancer,” said Gordon, who also outlined the society's activities for Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, which is observed in March each year. 

According to data prepared by the RGD and shared with the Observer, a “summary of malignant neoplasm of colon, rectum and anus by parish of residence of deceased for 2004-2017” showed that there were 220 deaths in 2008 compared to 380 deaths in 2017.

The same summary showed that there were 329 deaths in 2016. The Ministry of Health told the Observer that of that number, 184 were males and 145 were females.

Colorectal cancer, which is sometimes called colon cancer, is defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a form of cancer that occurs in the colon or rectum. According to the CDC, abnormal growths, called polyps, sometimes form in the colon — also called the large intestine or large bowel — or the rectum, which connects the colon to the anus.

Professor Plummer said that globally, Jamaica's colorectal cancer rate is in the middle range.

“Still, Jamaica's CRC rate is in the intermediate rate compared to high-incidence countries such as Canada and Australia, or low-incidence countries that are largely China or in Africa. more