Onkológia 4/2015

Selected trends in colorectal cancer epidemiology in Slovakia

Introduction: In worldwide estimates for the year 2012, the Slovak Republic had the highest value of age-standardised incidence, but real data on a national level have only been available up to 2008. Aims: Colorectal cancer is one of the more preventable malignant tumors, whereby organised screening with adequate participation of the population in risk leads to a significant drop in both incidence and mortality. The aim of the submitted paper is to predict the development of selected indicators of descriptive epidemiology of this disease prospectively. Results: In recent years, a significant growth in the incidence of the disease has been witnessed in Slovakia, rising by 2.3% annually in men and 1.4% in women. Mortality in men is falling substantially by -1% annually, and in women it is -1.6%. Conclusion: The drop in mortality is manifesting later and to a lesser degree in Slovakia than in those countries with long-term organised screening in place.

Keywords: colorectal cancer, incidence, mortality, prevalence, clinical stages, screening.