Colorectal Cancer Screening

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is well-suited to screening. It is a common disease, affecting approximately 1 in 20 adults in the USA and Europe, ultimately proving fatal in almost 50% of cases. Symptoms are frequently non-specific, and are often common (e.g. change in bowel habit, abdominal pain), leading many patients to ignore the condition until a relatively late (and hence incurable) stage. As for most cancers, prognosis is strongly related to disease stage at presentation, with early tumors (confined to the bowel wall) having nearly 95% 5-year survival compared to less than 50% if there is nodal involvement 1.
Source: Seminars in Roentgenology - Category: Radiology Authors: Source Type: research