Review article

Epidemiology of colorectal cancer in Croatia and worldwide

Mario Šekerija orcid.org/0000-0001-7508-1501
Tihana Marković

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in men worldwide (746,000; 10%) and second most common in women (614,000 cases; 9.2%). Incidence and mortality are on the rise in many developing countries, closing the gap to the western, industrialized populations. In Croatia it is the second malignant cause of death in both males and females, while it ranks second in female incidence and third in male incidence. Trends in CRC in Croatia still display an increase in the standardized rates of incidence and mortality, however, the data for five-year survival for Croatia from recently published international studies indicate an improvement. The epidemiological data clearly point to CRC as one of the most important health issues of Croatian society. Its increasing incidence and mortality trends need to be tackled with a multidisciplinary approach, ensuring the availability of new treatment options and drugs when necessary, but also insisting on the secondary prevention (population-based screening) and primary prevention (changes in nutritional habits and levels of physical activity with educational activities targeted towards wider audience).

Keywords

colorectal cancer; incidence; mortality; prevalence; Croatia

Hrčak ID:

139030

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/139030

Publication date:

14.5.2015.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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