Cancer, the second leading cause of death worldwide, is a universal threat to today’s society. March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, an annual campaign to raise awareness about the importance of cancer screening. SCOR is proud to join this global movement by announcing the launch of the Vitae Colon Cancer risk solution, a new addition to the Vitae series, SCOR’s innovative biometric risk calculators. This state-of-the-art tool assesses various and often complicated colon cancer cases tailored for our diverse client markets.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide. This disease affects both men and women, with nearly two million people worldwide diagnosed each year. Unfortunately, the number of affected patients is on the rise, leading to almost one million deaths per year, according to World Cancer Research Fund International.
Introducing Vitae Colon Cancer Risk Calculator
As a reinsurer whose mission is to narrow the insurance protection gap and protect insureds against the risks they face, SCOR is committed to extending coverage to high-risk individuals and providing the proper protection they deserve. With this goal in mind, a team of SCOR’s global experts joined their efforts to build this new calculator.
Valentine Sarrazin, Junior Data Analyst at SCOR, who was a key member of the development team of this solution, said, “It was very challenging but rewarding at the same time to collaborate with people worldwide with diverse job functions - medical experts, underwriters, actuaries, data scientists, and developers - to build an underwriting solution well adapted to different local markets. We believe our efforts paid off, and we are excited to introduce this solution that enables insurers to better evaluate individual risk factors in colon cancer survivors and offer insurance coverage to a larger number of them at fair rates.”
SCOR continues to move towards more inclusive pricing by offering insurance solutions to applicants who had metastatic tumors. Vitae Colon Cancer aims to assess the risk of relapse and death for individuals previously diagnosed with colon cancer based on a range of parameters to assist underwriters to improved accuracy in estimating individualized risk assessment and underwriting. For example, with this calculator, a 45-year-old person who was treated for colon cancer (type T2N1G1 and has had between one and three resected metastases) ten years ago and was previously declined for a whole life policy application could be accepted for insurance coverage.
Expanding Vitae series to benefit clients and society
Vitae Colon Cancer has been developed as an API that can be easily implemented with digital underwriting solutions from our insurance partners around the world. It is integrated into SOLEM, SCOR’s underwriting assessment guide. The solution currently focuses on colon cancer only, but it will be extended to cover rectum cancer in the future.
“I am very excited about the launch of another critical solution to our Vitae biometric risk calculator series. Our goal is to keep developing calculators to enrich the variety of our offerings and, most importantly, expand protection to medical survivors and their families who are so strong and courageous to fight the battle against adversity. We look for more to come in the near future,” said Antoine Moll, Head of Biometric Risk Calculators.
Dr. Eric Raymond, Professor of Medical Oncology and SCOR’s Medical Director, adds, “Recently, immunotherapy yields striking evidence of benefits in a rare subset of advanced colorectal cancer called MSI (Micro-Satellite Instability) which affects 4% to 5% of patients. As we are making such progress, more long-term survivors or ex-patients will deserve insurance protection. For us to ensure the right rating for the right patient according to reliable data and up-to-date methodology, Vitae Colon Cancer is a key tool to ensure a justifiable rating for underwriters.”
SCOR has a long history of expanding reinsurance protection to the underinsured population by combining knowledge, technology, passion, and innovative thinking. With this new addition to the Vitae biometric risk calculator series, we look forward to working with our clients and expanding our insurance reach to create a better-protected society.
For more information, contact your local SCOR representatives or our Vitae experts:
Antoine Moll, Head of Biometric Risk Calculators amoll@scor.com
Valentine Sarrazin, Junior Data Analyst vsarrazin@scor.com
Learn more about other Vitae biometric risk calculator solutions here:
• SCOR launches Vitae Mental Health | SCOR
• Celebrating Breast Cancer Survivors | SCOR
• Vitae, a more inclusive cardiovascular risk calculator | SCOR
