ABSTRACT
Colorectal cancer (CRC) remains one of the major causes of cancer mortality in developed countries with incidence ranking third in women and men. In the United Kingdom, more than 32,000 people are diagnosed annually with CRC, with a slight sex bias in the male to female ratio. The use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs including regular aspirin consumption has been consistently shown in epidemiological studies to confer a reduced CRC risk, although the exact dosage and duration are as yet unknown and must be balanced against the possible side effects of haemorrhagic complications, especially stroke and gastrointestinal ulceration. In CRC, there is a relatively predictable pattern of systemic metastases development in a subset of patients. After curative treatment of CRC, patients are at risk of developing metastatic disease, and they are also at a higher risk of developing a second primary CRC than the general population.
