[Colorectal cancer: what progress can we anticipate in the next few years?]

Colorectal cancer will remain a frequent cancer with an increasing incidence. Its prognosis will continue to improve because of the progress in the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Colorectal cancer screening will use better methods than the faecal occult blood test (FOBT) in the average risk population with biological technics easier, better accepted, more specific and more sensitive than the FOBT; the screening for high risk groups will also be helped by molecular biology and a better knowledge of the genetic profile of the families at risk. Efficacy and tolerance of chemotherapy regimens and targeted therapies will be better predicted by a more precise knowledge of the patients' pharmacogenetic profile and of their tumor molecular characteristics. Targeted therapies will be used in a more optimal way using more precise rules of prescription. These progresses will result in a higher rate of cure for metastatic patients favoured by an optimal combination of secondary surgery with all the effective technics for local and/or systemic treatments, and the respect of a strict multidisciplinary approach in specialized centers which are clearly warranted.