NICE clinical guidelines
Issued: November 2011
CG131
Colorectal cancer: The diagnosis and management of colorectal cancer
This is an extract from the guidance and may be misleading if read alone. The complete guidance is available at guidance.nice.org.uk/cg131
Introduction
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK after breast and lung cancer, with approximately 40,000 new cases registered each year. Occurrence of colorectal cancer is strongly related to age, with almost three-quarters of cases occurring in people aged 65 or over. Colorectal cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in the UK.
Around half of people diagnosed with colorectal cancer survive for at least 5 years after diagnosis.
The guideline will assume that prescribers will use a drug's summary of product characteristics to inform decisions made with individual patients.