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Epidemiological Trends in Colorectal Cancer in China: An Ecological Study

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Abstract

Background

Due to the changes in lifestyle and dietary behaviors, the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) has been rapidly increasing in China.

Aims

This study is to present the trends of CRC in China over the past decade.

Methods

It used a series of nationally representative data, including the National Central Cancer Registry of China, the GLOBOCAN project and the Global Burden of Disease.

Results

The age-standardized rate of CRC incidence increased from 12.8 in 2003 to 16.8 per 100,000 in 2011, while the mortality rose from 5.9 to 7.8 per 100,000. The age group most affected by incident CRC cases were those aged 60–74 years old, whereas CRC death was most associated with those >74 years. Furthermore, the east coast of China presented a higher mortality rate (>15 and 10–14.9 per 100,000 in men and women) than central and west China (5–14.9 and 5–9.9 per 100,000). Compared with other countries worldwide, China indicated lower rates of incidence (14.2 per 100,000), mortality (7.4 per 100,000), and 5-year prevalence (52.7 per 100,000) than most developed countries. However, China had a higher case-fatality ratio (14.0 %) and mortality/incidence ratio (52.1 %). Lastly, disability-adjusted life years attributed to CRC in China was 224.2 per 100,000.

Conclusions

It presents a steady increase in CRC in China over the past decade. It also reveals the domestic diversity of age, gender, and geography and finds the differences between China and developed countries, which may yield insights for national programs and policies.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Key Basic Research Development Program (No. 2012CB524905), National Science and Technology Support Plan Project (No. 2012BAI06B04), and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81170378 and No. 81230012).

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Author notes

    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310003, China

      Jinzhou Zhu, Chaohui Yu & Youming Li

    2. Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, 14214, USA

      Zhengqi Tan, Kelseanna Hollis-Hansen & Yong Zhang

    3. School of Public Health and Health Management, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016, China

      Yong Zhang

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    1. Jinzhou Zhu
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    Correspondence to Youming Li.

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    Jinzhou Zhu and Zhengqi Tan have contributed equally to the work.

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    Zhu, J., Tan, Z., Hollis-Hansen, K. et al. Epidemiological Trends in Colorectal Cancer in China: An Ecological Study. Dig Dis Sci 62, 235–243 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-016-4362-4

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-016-4362-4

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