Colon and rectal cancer survival in seven high-income countries 2010–2014: variation by age and stage at diagnosis (the ICBP SURVMARK-2 project)

A new article by researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and partners reports the international variation in stage at diagnosis and survival by stage for patients with colon cancer and rectal cancer. The study is part of the Cancer Survival in High-Income Countries (SURVMARK-2) project within the International Cancer Benchmarking Partnership (ICBP).

The scientists observed differences in the stage distribution of colon and rectal cancers across countries, with large proportions of cases with localized colon or rectal cancers in Norway and Australia (and in the United Kingdom for colon cancer) and small proportions with metastatic cancers in Australia and Canada (and in Ireland for rectal cancer). Although survival differences across countries were evident for all stage groups, large variation was observed for regional and advanced disease.

This study suggests that survival disparities across countries could partly be explained by differences in the treatment and management of regional and distant colon and rectal cancers, and by earlier diagnosis in some countries.

Araghi M, Arnold M, Rutherford MJ, Guren MG, Casabag CJ, Bardot A, et al.
Colon and rectal cancer survival in seven high-income countries 2010–2014: variation by age and stage at diagnosis (the ICBP SURVMARK-2 project)
Gut, Published online 1 June 2020;
https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2020-320625

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