Author: Stephen Johnson / Source: Big Think
People should begin screening for colon cancer earlier than previously recommended, at age 45 instead of 50, the American Cancer Society said Wednesday.
The change comes in the wake of research showing a 51 percent increase in colorectal cancer among people under 50 since 1994, and an accompanying rise in deaths.
“When we began this guideline update, we were initially focused on whether screening should begin earlier in racial subgroups with higher colorectal cancer incidence, which some organizations already recommend,” said Richard Wender, chief cancer control officer for the American Cancer Society.
Colon cancer is known to disproportionately affect African-Americans, Alaska Natives, and American Indians.
“But as we saw data pointing to a persistent trend of increasing colorectal cancer incidence in younger adults, including American Cancer Society research that indicated this effect would carry forward with increasing age, we decided to reevaluate the age to initiate screening in all US adults.”
The research shows that people born around 1990 are twice as likely to develop colon cancer and four times as likely to develop rectal cancer compared to adults born around 1950, according to a report published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
In the U.S., colorectal cancer, which includes both colon and rectal cancers, is the second leading cause of cancer-related death, and it’s estimated to claim 50,630 lives in 2018.
Alarmingly, no one’s sure what’s causing cancer rates to spike.
“We just have to face reality,” Dr. Richard Wender, chief cancer control officer of the society, told NPR. “We just…
The post American Cancer Society says people should begin screening for colon, rectal cancer at 45 appeared first on FeedBox.