Colonoscopies recommended to stem rise in fatal cancer

Professor Jonathan Sham has an easy method of determining how big a killer colorectal cancer is in a country.

He looks for Western-style fast-food chains. If he finds them, then chances are the country will have a growing rate of colorectal cancer, he says.

This is because the existence of fast-food chains is evidence that a country has adopted a Western diet and with it the red meat and fats that are known to put people more at risk of colorectal cancer, says Sham, a cancer specialist at the University of Hong Kong.