Colorectal cancer in Russia

Using peer-reviewed publications and official government documents, this paper covers three important issues concerning colorectal cancer (CRC) in Russia: (1) CRC epidemiology, (2) screening for CRC, (3) medical care for patients with CRC. Colon and rectal cancer are registered separately in Russia. When colon and rectal cancers are considered together, CRC is the second cause of cancer death for women (after breast cancer) and the third for men (after lung and stomach cancer), while both incidence and mortality have increased over the past decade. About a quarter of all new colon and rectal cancer cases are diagnosed at Stage IV and one-third of patients with newly diagnosed disease die in the first year after diagnosing, however, poor data collection and collation presents problems with reliability of cancer statistics. Screening for CRC is not included in the national programme of preventive medical examination. There are no data about treatment effectiveness and access to innovative drugs in common practice. New drugs for CRC are included in the documents that regulate access to care, notably, drug lists and standards of medical care. However, many cancer patients are not included in any reimbursement programme and have to pay for the drugs, and there are problems with drug supply even for patients who are entitled to reimbursement. A national programme for oncology care development was launched in 2009 but it does not cover routine treatment.