Recent advances in colorectal cancer screening

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.1 In the United States, 135,430 new cases of CRC were diagnosed in 2017, with 50,260 CRC-related deaths.2 In the Asia-Pacific region, the incidence varies between regions, with an increasing trend among countries that have undergone rapid development and industrialization. In China, for example, age-standardized incidence of CRC increased from 12.8 in 2003 to 16.8 in 2011 per 100,000 individuals.3 Timely screening for CRC is critical to reducing CRC-related mortality by detecting the tumor at the early, curable stage. In the United States, large-scale screening programs have led to a significant decrease in CRC morality, highlighting the importance of primary prevention, early detection and treatment.2, 4 Formulating an optimal screening strategy relies upon several important factors, such as local healthcare infrastructure and the availability of medical resources, CRC incidence, the quality of each screening method, and other context-related factors. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in our understanding of CRC pathogenesis and new development in CRC screening.