Report in English with a Dutch summary (KCE reports 45A)

46 Screening for Colorectal Cancer KCE reports vol.45
colonoscopic surveillance and for clinical genetics services. However, there is a
paucity of high-quality data.
In a 2001 Journal of Medical Screening publication, Sandhu et al. 54 performed a
cross-sectional analysis of CRC and self reported family history based on data
from a large population based study in Norfolk, United Kingdom. Of the 30.353
participants, 2.069 (6,8%) participants had reported a family history of
colorectal cancer in at least one first degree relative. The prevalence of
colorectal cancer in those with a family history was 1% and 0,5% in those
without. Of the 151 participants with prevalent colorectal cancer, 14,6%
reported a family history of the disease.
In a 2006 publication in Genetics in Medicine, Ramsey et al. 167 queried survey
questions from the National Health Interview Survey, an annual nationwide
survey of approximately 36.000 households in the United States, to determine
the prevalence of persons reporting one or more first-degree relatives with
breast, colorectal, lung, prostate, or ovarian cancer. Breast cancer was the most
common condition noted for family members (7,74% of respondents), followed
by lung cancer (7,10%), colorectal cancer (4,96%), prostate cancer (4,68%), and
ovarian cancer (1,79%).
Mitchell et al. 168 used computerized record linkage to assess systematically the
family history of 160 cancer-free community subjects and thereby provide
prevalence data independent of participant recall. The data set comprised 2.664
first- and second-degree relatives of study subjects, with 148.068 years at risk.
Of people in the 30-70 years age range, 9,4 (95% CI: 5,8 to 14,9) per cent had a
first-degree relative affected by colorectal cancer, and 28,8 (95% CI: 22,3 to
36,2) per cent had an affected first- or second-degree relative. Between 0 and
3,1 per cent of study subjects merited colonic surveillance, depending on the
stringency of the guidelines used.