SEARCH
= Paid-up subscribersGastroenterology: Improving detection of colorectal cancer
20 Oct 2010
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK, with an annual incidence of 36,100 in England and Wales. It is also the second leading cause of death from cancer in the UK. There has been a significant increase in five-year survival over the past decade, from 22% to 50% despite more than 55% of patients presenting with lymph node or distant metastases.Guidelines published by the Department of Health and subsequently by NICE have set down criteria for the urgent referral of patients with clinical features suggestive of colorectal cancer. However, analysis of this referral system shows that it lacks sensitivity for detecting cancers (only 10.3% of referrals are ultimately found to have cancer) and that it fails to identify those with earlier, more treatable disease. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that the clinical features included within the guidelines have been selected because of their strong association with the disease.
This article can only be accessed if you are a registered user of thepractitioner.co.uk or a subscriber to The Practitioner.