Screening for New Primary Cancers in Cancer Survivors: Systematic Review and Analysis of Nova Scotian Colorectal Cancer Survivors

Abstract

Little is known about the receipt of cancer screening for new primary cancers among Canadian cancer survivors. The objectives of this thesis are to i) synthesize evidence comparing receipt cancer screening between cancer survivors and non-cancer controls; and ii) analyze breast and cervical cancer screening receipt among Nova Scotian colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors. This thesis consists of a systematic review and meta-analysis, and a population-based cohort study of Nova Scotian CRC survivors. We found that while cancer survivors were more likely to receive cancer screening than the general population, a significant proportion of cancer survivors were not screened. We observed significant heterogeneity between studies, most of which remained unexplained after subgroup and sensitivity analyses. 30.1% and 47.9% of Nova Scotian CRC survivors never received a breast and cervical cancer screen after their CRC diagnosis. Receipt of pre-CRC diagnosis screening was strongly predictive of receiving screening post-diagnosis.