Colorectal cancer in 2003: old principles, new strategies

In the last two decades the prognosis of colorectal cancer has improved for two reasons: (i) the proportion of patients with localized disease has increased and treatment has been standardized, and (ii) new chemotherapeutic agents have led to a longer life expectancy for patients with advanced disease. In this review the current insights in disease etiology and treatment of localized and disseminated colorectal cancer are discussed.