Europe has achieved major progress in reducing mortality from colorectal cancer, experts say today.
According to a forecast in the Annals of Oncology, mortality rates from the disease this year are likely to be 7% less than just six years ago.
It has been achieved by improved diagnosis and management rather than any individual breakthrough, experts say.
The researchers say that mortality for most cancers should decline this year – with the exception of cancers of the pancreas and lung in women.
Colorectal cancer is the second single most common cause of death among cancers in Europe – and the numbers are increasing with the ageing population, according to the analysis. But the 177,400 deaths will affect people of increasing age – leading to reductions in the age-standardised mortality rates, the researchers say.
Researcher Professor Carlo La Vecchia of the University of Milan, Italy, said: “Colorectal cancer is the most common cause of cancer death among non-smokers in both men and women. The fall in mortality that we are predicting for 2018, has been one of the major success stories in clinical oncology.
“This improvement in death rates in Europe comes in the absence of a single major breakthrough and is due to improved diagnosis and management of the disease.”
He added: “In the EU, deaths from colorectal cancer have been declining since 1993 in men, and over the whole period since 1970 in women. Factors that increase the risk of colorectal cancer include tobacco, alcohol, obesity, diabetes, a sedentary lifestyle and an unhealthy diet. However, in women the use of oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy may partly explain their decreased risk.
“In both men and women, the use of aspirin, mainly taken to prevent heart attacks and strokes, and effective screening are likely to have contributed to a decrease in the incidence of the disease.
“The availability of colonoscopy for investigating bleeding and other early symptoms has improved early diagnosis across Europe.”
Journal editor Professor Fabrice André, of the Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France, said: “While this study suggests that improving cancer detection and quality of care translates into better outcome, it also reminds everyone that 1.4 million patients in Europe will die because of cancer in 2018 and that research efforts need to be amplified.”
M. Malvezzi et al. European cancer mortality predictions for the year 2018 with focus on colorectal cancer. Annals of Oncology 19 March 2018; doi:10.1093/annonc/mdy033
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