Guidelines for Colorectal Cancer Screening--a Puzzle of Tests and Strategies (Congress Paper) (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in Western Europe and in North America (1). The lifetime risk of developing CRC is about 5% in Belgium; the mortality rate is 50% at 5 years after diagnosis (2). The risk of developing CRC mainly increases after the age of fifty years, but probably later for women than men and is doubling after each decade up to the eighties (3). The majority of CRC cases are believed to arise from adenomatous polyps that progress over the course of many years to invasive adenocarcinoma.