Screening for Colorectal Cancer in the Asia-Pacific Region: Are We Ready Yet?

The past two decades have witnessed a dramatic rise in colorectal cancer incidence and mortality in Asia. The Asia-Pacific Region represents a diversified population with disparities in disease prevalence, health belief attitudes, and healthcare infrastructure. The public, in general, is poorly informed about the rising incidence of colorectal cancer and the benefits of screening tests. Financial constrains appear to be a major hurdle to implementing a screening program. Clinical Studies showed that colonic neoplasms are predominantly found in the distal colon. However, 50% of patients with proximal colonic lesions have a normal distal colon. Large-scale studies from Asia using the fecal Occult blood test have shown promising results. A risk stratification scoring system is in development to select high-risk subjects for screening colonoscopy. Asia needs to work together to stop the rising colorectal cancer mortality in this region.