Colorectal cancer
- Study type
- Review article
- Design
- Review article (Seminar)
- Sample size
- Not applicable (review article)
- Source
- The Lancet · 2019
In plain words
Colorectal cancer (cancer of the large bowel and rectum) is now the fourth deadliest cancer in the world. Obesity, lack of physical activity and smoking raise its risk. There are many treatments, such as surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy and immunotherapy, and survival in advanced disease has reached 3 years on average, but treatment results are better in disease that has not spread. Because the disease usually causes symptoms only at advanced stages, regular screening for early detection is very important.
Key results
Study population
This is a review article and no specific patients were enrolled. The abstract covers colorectal cancer at localised and advanced stages.
Endpoints
Not applicable; this is a review article and defines no primary or secondary endpoints.
Safety and side effects
The abstract does not address adverse effects of treatments.
Clinical significance and place in guidelines
This review gives an overview of epidemiology, risk factors, treatment options and the importance of organised screening, and stresses the need for individualised treatment planning. The article is not itself a clinical guideline; authoritative up-to-date guidelines should be consulted for treatment decisions.
Limitations
This is a narrative review and, based on the abstract, no systematic search method or assessment of evidence quality is reported. The abstract does not give detailed quantitative data for each treatment.
This summary was prepared by the editorial team from the published paper; the original paper is the final reference. Read the original abstract on PubMed.