There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Several decades ago, colorectal cancer was infrequently diagnosed. Nowadays, it is
the world's fourth most deadly cancer with almost 900 000 deaths annually. Besides
an ageing population and dietary habits of high-income countries, unfavourable risk
factors such as obesity, lack of physical exercise, and smoking increase the risk
of colorectal cancer. Advancements in pathophysiological understanding have increased
the array of treatment options for local and advanced disease leading to individual
treatment plans. Treatments include endoscopic and surgical local excision, downstaging
preoperative radiotherapy and systemic therapy, extensive surgery for locoregional
and metastatic disease, local ablative therapies for metastases, and palliative chemotherapy,
targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. Although these new treatment options have doubled
overall survival for advanced disease to 3 years, survival is still best for those
with non-metastasised disease. As the disease only becomes symptomatic at an advanced
stage, worldwide organised screening programmes are being implemented, which aim to
increase early detection and reduce morbidity and mortality from colorectal cancer.