Avaliação do conhecimento dos médicos da atenção primária sobre rastreamento de câncer colorretal no município de Lagarto em Sergipe

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) consists of tumors that affect the segment of the intestine and rectum, is derived from adenomatous polyps and has a well-established natural history. It is the fourth most prevalent neoplasm in men and the third in women in Brazil, and is still the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the country. Its origin may be genetic, from autosomal dominant inheritances or related to environmental factors, among which the hypercaloric diet and smoking have fundamental roles in the pathogenesis. The development of CRC is slow, lesions take more than 5 years to grow before they become clinically significant. The current panorama shows that the diagnosis of this type of neoplasia has been carried out late, reducing the therapeutic possibilities and the survival time of these patients. With a well-informed history of the disease, CRC makes possible different forms of prevention, among them we find secondary prevention. It is performed so that screening tests for the target population identify early stages of the disease and enable proper diagnosis and treatment. The World Health Organization (WHO) advocates the systematic screening of people over 50 years of age in those countries able to guarantee every step of caring for the cancer patient. High-quality evidence supports a fecal occult blood strategy each year for colorectal cancer screening with colonoscopy, used as a follow-up to a positive test. The objective of this study is to evaluate the knowledge of the medical service providers in Primary Health Care of the city of Lagarto, Sergipe, on the screening of colorectal neoplasms.