Cancers
Twenty-Five Years of Colorectal Cancer Screening in the Czech Republic: National Registry Trends in Program Performance and Cancer Burden
By Štěpán Suchánek, Monika Ambrožová, Tomáš Grega and 7 others.
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence and mortality in the Czech Republic ranked among the highest worldwide for decades. The performance of the national screening program over 25 years is reported alongside concurrent population trends.
Methods
In this retrospective population-based analysis, registry and health-insurance data on program indicators for 2006–2025 were analyzed by calendar year and screening pathway, together with national incidence and mortality for 1977–2024. Introduced in 2000 with guaiac fecal occult blood testing, the program added screening colonoscopy in 2009, completed the transition to fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) by 2014, and has used quantitative FIT only since 2020. The target age was 50 and over, redefined as 45–74 from 2026.