Mars Bleu: colorectal cancer awareness month Over 50s – get tested in 5 minutes!

An annual event since 2006, the month of March is devoted to raising public awareness about colorectal cancer prevention and screening.

The Mars Bleu (Blue March) campaign, which is supported by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and healthcare professionals in the Principality, and delivered via the Princess Grace Hospital and Monaco Screening Centre, involves a number of stakeholders.

With 43,000 new cases and 18,000 deaths every year in France, colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer mortality in men and the third in women.

The prognosis for colorectal cancer depends on the stage at which it is diagnosed: this cancer can, to some extent, be prevented through screening of precancerous lesions, a process which also allows treatment to be given at an early stage when cancer is detected.

For this reason, all men and women aged 50 to 80 years old and covered by social security schemes in the Principality will receive a letter inviting them to get tested. The testing kit is available from the Monaco Screening Centre at Princess Grace Hospital, from your usual doctor, or on request from the Office of Occupational Medicine during a regular medical check-up.

Once completed, the test should be returned to the Monaco Screening Centre or posted, free of charge, in a pre-addressed envelope to the Biology Laboratory at Princess Grace Hospital.

The results will then be sent to the individual concerned and their doctor the following week. If the test is negative, you should get another one in two years. If the test is positive, your doctor will be contacted directly by the Monaco Screening Centre to arrange the necessary colonoscopy.

Colorectal cancer can be screened for and is therefore preventable. So don’t wait any longer – get yourself tested!

If you have any questions about colon cancer screening, please contact the Monaco Screening Centre on (+377) 97 98 83 02.