Current perspectives on IBD-associated colorectal cancer

Abstract

Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) represent the main phenotypes of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which are chronic relapsing and remitting inflammatory conditions of the gastrointestinal tract. The development of IBD is associated with westernization, with increasing incidence over recent decades being more pronounced in newly industrialized regions such as South America, North Africa, and Southeast Asia1. Although published data from sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) suggests that IBD is uncommon in the region2, 3, the most plausible explanation for these low rates is under-reporting of cases, with unpublished
real-world data supporting an increase in the incidence. Furthermore, with an increasing population average lifespan, the prevalence of IBD globally is on the rise4, with the downstream effect of a parallel increase in the prevalence of colorectal cancer (CRC).