KNOWLEDGE OF STUDENTS OF QASSIM UNIVERSITY REGARDING COLON CANCER.

The crude frequency of colorectal cancer (CRC) is second to breast cancer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) In the year 2002, colorectal cancer (CRC) was the third and fourth most common cancer in females and males, respectively, worldwide.[1] Its prevalence is second only to that of breast cancer, with an estimated 2.8 million persons alive with CRC within five years of diagnosis. The highest incidence rates occurred in North America, Australia, Western Europe and Japan. The incidence tends to be low in Africa and Asia and intermediate in the southern parts of South America. Although the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is considered a low-incidence area for CRC, the disease ranks second, after breast cancer, constituting almost nine percent of the newly diagnosed cases, ranking first and third among the male and female population, respectively.[2] Changing trends in the incidence and mortality of CRC have been shown in many high- and low-rate areas. The incidence rates of CRC are increasing rather rapidly in countries where the overall risk was formerly low.[13] For mortality, the pattern is similar, with an increase in the countries with a low initial rate, small increases or stable rates in countries with moderate rates, and a decrease for high-rate populations.[13–15]