Global impact of COVID-19 on organized CRC screening programs: lessons learned

Lucie de Jonge; Iris Lansdorp-Vogelaar; V Paul Doria-Rose; Isabel Portillo; Dominika Novak Mlakar; Andrea Buron; Cécile Quintin; Josep A Espinàs; Julie Plaine; Ana Lucija Škrjanec; Tatjana Kofol Bric; Gemma Binefa; Rebeca Font; Jean-Luc Bulliard; Jessica Chubak; Rebecca Ziebell; Bronwen R McCurdy; Linda Rabeneck; Carlo Senore; International Cancer Screening Network Colorectal Cancer working group

doi:10.1016/j.bpg.2025.102047

Global impact of COVID-19 on organized CRC screening programs: lessons learned

Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol. 2026 Feb:80:102047. doi: 10.1016/j.bpg.2025.102047. Epub 2025 Sep 5.

Authors

Lucie de Jonge¹, Iris Lansdorp-Vogelaar², V Paul Doria-Rose³, Isabel Portillo⁴, Dominika Novak Mlakar⁵, Andrea Buron⁶, Cécile Quintin⁷, Josep A Espinàs⁸, Julie Plaine⁷, Ana Lucija Škrjanec⁵, Tatjana Kofol Bric⁵, Gemma Binefa⁹, Rebeca Font⁹, Jean-Luc Bulliard¹⁰, Jessica Chubak¹¹, Rebecca Ziebell¹¹, Bronwen R McCurdy¹², Linda Rabeneck¹³, Carlo Senore¹⁴; International Cancer Screening Network Colorectal Cancer working group

Affiliations

¹ Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Electronic address: l.dejonge.3@erasmusmc.nl.
² Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
³ Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
⁴ Screening Programmes, The Basque Health Service, Spain.
⁵ National Institute for Public Health, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
⁶ Epidemiology and Evaluation Research Group, Hospital del Mar Institute, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain; Health Services Research on Chronic Patients Network, REDISSEC, Madrid, Spain.
⁷ Santé Publique France, Saint-Maurice, France.
⁸ Catalonian Cancer Strategy, Department of Health, Government of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain.
⁹ Cancer Screening Unit, Institut Català d'Oncologia (ICO), L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain.
¹⁰ Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), Lausanne, Switzerland.
¹¹ Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA.
¹² Cancer Screening, Primary and Community-Based Care, Ontario Health, Ontario, Canada.
¹³ ICES, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹⁴ Epidemiology and Screening Unit - CPO, University Hospital Città della Salute e della Scienza, Turin, Italy.

PMID: 41724540
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpg.2025.102047

Abstract

Using a standardized data template, this study retrospectively collected data about colorectal cancer (CRC) screening activity in 2020 and 2021 to estimate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period (2018 or 2019). Data were collected from 17 programs in 14 countries of which 15 were population-based programs. Invitation coverage was decreased by up to 53.7 % in 2020. Participation among those invited was similar in both periods for all programs. The maximum backlog in invitations was less than 7.4 months in 2020 and 3.3 months for 2021. Nine out of 15 programs observed a decrease in the number of detected CRCs in 2020. Four programs showed a positive percentage change in CRCs detected in 2021 relative to the pre-pandemic period. Half of the countries observed a worse stage-distribution in 2020/2021. Overall, organized CRC screening programs operated at lower screening activity, but screening outcomes were similar compared to the pre-pandemic period.

Keywords: COVID-19; Colorectal cancer; Colorectal cancer screening.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Aged
COVID-19* / epidemiology
Colorectal Neoplasms* / diagnosis
Colorectal Neoplasms* / epidemiology
Early Detection of Cancer* / methods
Early Detection of Cancer* / statistics & numerical data
Early Detection of Cancer* / trends
Female
Global Health
Humans
Male
Mass Screening* / organization & administration
Mass Screening* / statistics & numerical data
Middle Aged
Pandemics
Retrospective Studies
SARS-CoV-2