Rates still increasing in low- and middle-income countries; highest rates in highly developed countries
TUESDAY, Feb. 2, 2016 (HealthDay News) — There is considerable variation in colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality rates, with the rates correlating with human development levels, according to a study published online Jan. 27 in Gut.
Melina Arnold, Ph.D., from the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, and colleagues described recent CRC incidence and mortality patterns and trends. Data were extracted from the GLOBOCAN database to estimate sex-specific CRC incidence and mortality rates in 2012. Data from 37 countries were used to assess temporal patterns.
The researchers found that there was up to 10-fold variation worldwide in CRC incidence and mortality rates, with distinct gradients across human development levels indicative of growing disparities and an increasing burden for countries in transition. In many low-income and middle-income countries, CRC incidence and mortality rates were still rising; highly developed countries tended to have stabilizing or decreasing trends, although their rates remained among the highest in the world.
“Patterns and trends in CRC incidence and mortality correlate with present human development levels and their incremental changes might reflect the adoption of more western lifestyles,” the authors write. “Targeted resource-dependent interventions, including primary prevention in low-income, supplemented with early detection in high-income settings, are needed to reduce the number of patients with CRC in future decades.”
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