Osun Pilot Links Community Outreach to Early Colorectal Cancer Detection

Overview

• Investigators ran a six-month campaign using bilingual flyers, posters, banners, radio jingles, social media, and messaging through clinics and religious institutions.
• Among 322 people who completed pre- and post-surveys, awareness of colorectal cancer rose from 16.8% to 96.9%, with marked gains in symptom and risk-factor knowledge.
• The program directed 329 people to an Early Diagnosis Clinic, where 168 had risk indicators and 116 (73% of those eligible) completed colonoscopy.
• Colonoscopy findings included four cancers—two stage 0, one stage II, and one stage III—and advanced adenomas in 11% of patients, with 31 polyps identified overall.
• Published in Cancer on December 22, 2025, the study’s authors say the pilot supports national scale-up of symptom-based early detection in a setting where about 80% of cases present at advanced stage.