Another brick in the large wall against colorectal cancer: a commentary on effectiveness of screening colonoscopy

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer among both men and women in the United States. Incidence and mortality rates of CRC have been declining for several decades. The recent changes in risk factors (e.g., decreased smoking rates, red meat consumption, increased use of aspirin), the dissemination of screening tests, and the improvements in treatment have been hypothesized to contribute to CRC mortality reduction (1). In Addition, more recent evidence indicates that the increasing use of CRC screening has been a major contributor to the declining incidence and mortality rates in the U.S. from this disease (2,3).