Editorial
Colorectal cancer: does early detection matter?
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
It is not within the scope of an editorial to completely review all the literature on the subject, but this will be an attempt to summarise the topic by addressing the following five points.
(1) Does the early detection of colorectal neoplasia in the
asymptomatic average risk population change the amount of morbidity and
mortality from this disease?
The survival from colorectal cancer is related directly to the
degree of malignant invasion through the bowel wall that has occurred
by the time of diagnosis and treatment. Only about 50% of all
patients, symptomatic at the time of their diagnosis, will be alive
five years after treatment (surgery and oncological treatment). In
contrast, all three large scale population randomised trials of faecal
occult blood screening, in the UK, USA and Scandinavia, have
demonstrated a significant reduction of 15%-30% in mortality caused
by colorectal cancer.1-3 This increased survival was due to detecting
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