Optimizing Patient Risk Stratification for Colonoscopy Screening and Surveillance of Colorectal Cancer: The Role for Linked Data

摘要

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide, with an estimated 1.4 million new cases and almost 700,000 related deaths globally each year (1). In Australia, CRC is the second most commonly reported cancer and second most common cause of cancer-related death (2). Moreover, Australia has the fourth highest incidence of CRC for men and fifth highest for women internationally (3, 4). Incidence rates of CRC have at least doubled in many countries since the mid-1970s (5–7), although trends vary across countries with stabilizing or declining rates in more recent years reported in Western Europe and the United States (US), respectively. This trend is reversed for high-income nations that have recently made the transition from low-income economies (8, 9).