[Epidemiologic trend of and strategies for colorectal cancer]

The incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer (CRC) show increasing tendency worldwide. It was predicted that the new cases in 2007 would be approximate 1,200,000 and the death cases would be 630,000, a total increase of 27% and 28% and an annual increase of 3.9% and 4.0%, respectively, compared with the figures in 2000. In addition, the incidence of CRC varies regionally and changes over the time. In previously identified high-incidence areas, there are three tendencies: one is to keep rising such as in UK, one is to be stable such as in New Zealand, and the third one is to decrease such as in US and Western Europe. In previously identified low-incidence areas, the incidence of CRC is increasing, such as in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Hungary, Poland, Israel, and Puerto-Rico, especially in Japan, where the incidence increases the fastest. Similarly, the incidence of CRC is increased by 4.2% annually in Shanghai, China, which is faster than the average increasing rate of the world. Since 1991, the average increase in mortality of CRC is 4.7% every year. The increasing number of female patients and the shift of the tumor location to the right side are also noticed for CRC in recent years. We summarized that CRC is a disease caused by synergism of environment and diet, life style and heredity. It was suggested that CRC can be prevented effectively through developing a regular life style, having proper diet, actively participating in the screening for cancers, and removing the pre-cancer lesions.