2018 Volume 45 Issue 2 Pages 382-388
Our hospital opened in Hamamatsu in 1986 as a specialized hospital focusing on gastroenterology and proctology. In 1988, we began occult blood testing for colorectal cancer for companies located in the western region of Shizuoka Prefecture. For corporate examinations, the examinations are first systematized and organized, and the annual examination counts are decided through negotiations with health insurance organizations. Stool collection containers are sent to each examinee, and after stool is collected, it is sent directly back to our hospital. Preliminary results are sent individually and our hospital asks examinees with positive results to come in for a full colonoscopy. Based on the second examination, progress and treatment are discussed, and reports are made individually. An annual examination report meeting is held once a year, at which the details of the examinations are reported to the health insurance organizations, etc. We have now spent 30 years on promoting colorectal examinations. After organizing all the data we have collected in our corporate examinations on diagnosis, detection, and early-stage and advanced cancers, it was evident that there is an increase in cancer incidence in young examinees aged 40 and younger. Additionally, by looking at time and costs of common surgeries, it is clear that colorectal examinations are meaningful with respect to treatment costs.
