Colorectal Neoplasm in Asymptomatic Average-risk Koreans: The KASID Prospective Multicenter Colonoscopy Survey.
OBJECTIVE
The incidence of colorectal cancer is increasing in Korea, but the epidemiology of colorectal neoplasm is not clearly defined. We aimed to elucidate the prevalence of colorectal neoplasm in average-risk Koreans and explore the underlying risk factors.


METHODS
A large-scale, multicenter, prospective study was conducted. Of the 19,460 subjects who underwent colonoscopy at 11 university hospitals, we analyzed 3,951 consecutive asymptomatic adults with no risk factors for colorectal cancer.


RESULTS
The subjects were aged 52.1+/-11.6 years (mean+/-SD) and 60.1% of them were men. The prevalences of colorectal neoplasm and advanced neoplasm were 33.3% and 2.2%, respectively. The prevalence of a neoplasm increased with age (trend: p<0.001) and was higher in males (p<0.001). The prevalence of a proximal neoplasm was higher in subjects with a distal neoplasm than in those without a distal neoplasm (11.9% vs. 5.4%, p<0.001). However, 150 (52.1%) of the 288 subjects with a proximal neoplasm had no distal neoplasm.


CONCLUSIONS
The overall prevalence of colorectal neoplasm in asymptomatic average-risk Koreans is comparable with that in Western countries. Being male and older are associated with a higher risk of colorectal neoplasm. Over half of proximal neoplasms are not associated with any distal sentinel lesions.
Park
Hye-Won
HW
Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Byeon
Jeong-Sik
JS
Yang
Suk-Kyun
SK
Kim
Hyun Soo
HS
Kim
Won Ho
WH
Kim
Tae Il
TI
Park
Dong Il
DI
Kim
Young-Ho
YH
Kim
Hyo Jong
HJ
Lee
Moon Sung
MS
Chung
Il-Kwon
IK
Jung
Sung-Ae
SA
Jeen
Yoon Tae
YT
Choi
Jai Hyun
JH
Choi
Hwang
H
Choi
Kyu Yong
KY
Han
Dong Soo
DS
Song
Jae Suk
JS