Expanded colorectal cancer screening finds more cases
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More adults age 45 to 49 are being diagnosed with early-stage colorectal cancer — and that's actually a good sign, according to new research published in JAMA.
Why it matters: The uptick coincides with the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force adopting a recommendation to start screening people with average risk for colorectal cancer at age 45, down from 50.
- It suggests that the recommendation — which requires health insurers to cover the screening at no cost to the individual — has translated into catching cancer earlier, when it's more treatable and survivable.
The big picture: The news comes as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reportedly considering dismissing all current members of the task force, on the grounds the panel of scientists has become too "woke," per the Wall Street Journal.
- Health and Human Services told Axios on Monday that no final decisions have been made.
State of play: The U.S. saw a 50% relative increase in the incidence of early colorectal cancer in adults in their mid-to-late 40s between 2021 and 2022, according to research led by the American Cancer Society.
- After 15 years of nearly flat growth, early colorectal cancer cases in the age group started to rise significantly in 2019, per the research.
- The cancer society started recommending the expanded screening in 2018, and the task force approved its own recommendation in 2021.
- Colorectal cancer screening for people age 45 to 49 increased from about 20% in 2021 to nearly 34% in 2023.
The intrigue: Colorectal cancer diagnoses, particularly late-stage diagnoses, in younger adults, have been rising since the 1990s, and it's not clear why.
- "I've been doing this for a long time, looking at this topic. This is the first time I've had good news to talk about," Rebecca Siegel, a cancer epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society who co-authored the new research, told Axios.
The bottom line: More than half of colorectal cancer cases in the U.S. are attributable to risk factors that can be modified.
- Changes like quitting smoking, eating limited processed meat and red meat and getting more physical activity can significantly reduce the risk of getting colorectal cancer in the first place, Siegel said.
Tina Reed contributed reporting.
