4Economic evaluation of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening

Because of its incidence and mortality colorectal cancer represents a serious public health issue in industrial countries. In order to reduce its social impact a number of screening strategies have been implemented, which allow an early diagnosis and treatment. These basically include faecal tests and studies that directly explore the colon and rectum. No strategy, whether alone or combined, has proven definitively more effective than the rest, but any such strategy is better than no screening at all. Selecting the most efficient strategy for inclusion in a population-wide program is an uncertain choice. Here we review the evidence available on the various economic evaluations, and conclude that no single method has been clearly identified as most cost-effective; further research in this setting is needed once common economic evaluation standards are established in order to alleviate the methodological heterogeneity prevailing in study results.