Demographic characteristics and the first program of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in north of Iran (2016)

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world (1). It is predicted that cancer will be the first and most important cause of death in 2030 (2). Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common types of cancers in the gastrointestinal tract (3). It is also the third most common cancer in men (746,000 cases, 10% of all cancers) and the second most common cancer in women (614,000 cases, 9.2% of all cancers) worldwide (4). According to recent studies in northern part of Iran, CRC is one of the most common cancers and its trend has been increasing in recent years (5)