[Colorectal carcinoma: from prevention to endoscopic diagnosis and therapy]

In recent decades, significant progress has been made in the diagnosis and treatment of colorectal carcinomas. Prevention and early detection with endoscopic therapy are of central importance. With the introduction of national screening programs, the early detection of adenomas and small tumors during colonoscopy has been significantly improved, thus reducing the incidence of colorectal carcinoma. In Germany, for example, this has been reduced by 17-26 % since its introduction in 2002. Thus, primary and secondary prevention are of considerable importance, although the annual uptake in Germany for screening Kolonoscopy is still only between 1.9 and 4.4 % and for stool test use between 8.6 and 27.1 %. We present here the importance of primary and secondary prevention based on pathogenesis, risk factors and diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic options.