Epidemiology of gastrointestinal and liver tumors.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a worldwide problem, with an annual incidence of 1 million cases and an annual mortality of more than 500,000 cases. CRC is the second most common cause of cancer mortality. CRC comprises 9% of the global cancer burden and is the most frequent in North America, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe, being considered as a disease of the Western lifestyle. Despite a major decline in incidence and mortality, gastric cancer remains an important public health burden worldwide, especially in developing countries. Gastric cancer is still the fourth most common cancer and the second-third most common cause of cancer death. There is a 10-fold variation in incidence between populations at the highest and lowest risk. The incidence is particularly high in East Asia, Eastern Europe, and parts of Central and South America. Esophageal cancer is the eighth most common cancer worldwide and the sixth most common cause of cancer-related death. Regional incidence rates are highest in areas of Southern and Eastern Africa and China. A striking increase in the rates of esophageal adenocarcinoma, in contrast, stable or even decreased trends in squamous cell cancer have been observed. Pancreatic cancer ranks the fourth and fifth most common cancer in man and women, respectively, and has the lowest 5-year survival rate of any gastrointestinal tumors. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common cancer in the world and the third most common cause of cancer mortality.