The epidemiology of colorectal cancer in China

Abstract

Objective: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers and the major cause of cancer death in China. The aim of this study was to estimate the burden of CRC in China. Materials and methods: Data from the National Cancer Center (NCC) of China was used and stratified by area (urban/rural), sex (male/female) for analyzing the age-specific incidence and mortality rates. Time trend of colorectal cancer was calculated based on the 22 high-quality cancer registries in China. National new cases and deaths of colorectal cancer were estimated using age-specific rates multiplied by the corresponding national population in 2014. The Chinese population in 2000 and Segi’s world population were used to calculate age-standardized rates of colorectal cancer in China. Results: Overall, 370,400 new colorectal cancer cases and 179,600 deaths were estimated in China in 2014, with about 214,100 new cases in men and 156,300 in women. Meanwhile, 104,000 deaths cases of colorectal cancer were men and 75,600 deaths were women, which accounted for 9.74% and 7.82% of all cancer incidence and deaths in China, separately. Relatively higher incidence and mortality was observed in urban areas of China. And the Eastern areas of China showed the highest incidence and mortality. The age-standardized incidence and mortality rate of colorectal cancer has increased by about 1.9% per year for incidence and about 0.9% per year for mortality rate from 2000 to 2014. Conclusion: With gradually higher incidence and mortality rate in the past 15 years, colorectal cancer became a major challenge to China’s public health. Effective control strategies are needed in China.