ABSTRACT
In the United States in the period 1973–1997, the incidence and mortality due to large bowel cancer was higher in blacks than in other ethnic groups. The incidence in blacks in the United States is substantially higher than in Africa. Moderately increased risks of colorectal cancer and adenomas have been associated with type 2 diabetes, although the studies are not entirely consistent. USA surveillance, epidemiology and end results program data for patients diagnosed with colon cancer in 1992–1997 show five-year relative survival of 91% for those whose disease was localized at diagnosis, 67% for those presenting with regional spread, and 9% for those with distant metastasis. Colorectal cancer continues to pose a major public health problem, with almost a million new cases being diagnosed each year worldwide, and over half a million deaths. A genetic variant at position 1663 in the human growth hormone-1 gene is thought to be associated with lower Insulin-like growth factor-1 levels.
