Colorectal cancer in India: controversies, enigmas and primary prevention

Abstract

One swears by whole meal bread, one by sour milk; vegetarianism is the only road to salvation of some, others insist not only on vegetables alone, but on eating those raw. At one time the only thing that matters is calories; at another time they are crazy about vitamins and roughage. The scientific truth may be put quite briefly; eat moderately, have an ordinary mixed diet and don't worry.

Comparison of Clinicopathologic Features of Colonic Malignancies between Patients Aged below 50 and Patients aged above 50 Years

“…(1,2) In common to both groups, abdomen pain was the commonest symptom, and there was altered bowel habits more frequently seen in the older group. Myers, Elizabeth A., et al& also by Ben-Ishay, Offir, et al also had similar finding on their study.…”

Getting into the colon: approaches to target colorectal cancer

“…Bothersome are the studies which reports; Indians who have migrated to USA and UK are more prone to CRC. This could, thus, be attributed to modified dietary habits and lifestyles [6].…”

Feasibility of Computed Tomography Colonography as a Diagnostic Procedure in Colon Cancer Screening in India

“…The primary reason is, compared to western population, the colon cancer occurrence is less (but the numbers are increasing in the recent past years) and CTC as a diagnostic procedure is rare when compared to Colonoscopy. Secondary reasons are variations in the sensitivity and specificity decisions, differences of opinion (Mohandas, 2011), less number of experts to evaluate the ground truths, lack of references from Gastroenterology (we came to know this when discussed with few diagnostic centers) and the expensive diagnosis cost (Nair et al, 2013, have discussed about the cost of diagnosis, the difficulties in curing cancers due to late stage diagnosis and treatment of cancer in Indian hospitals). There has not been much statistics about usage of CTC in Indian hospitals, how many diagnostic centers have got this facility commissioned?…”