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Colon and rectal cancer screenings should start at 45, updated guidelines say - CNN
The American Cancer Society's newly updated guidelines for colon and rectal cancer screening recommend that adults at average risk get screened starting at age 45 instead of 50, as previously advised.
The updated guidelines come on the heels of what seems to be a rise in colorectal cancer among younger adults.
Published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians on Wednesday, the updated guidelines also indicate that there are six screening test options for adults, ranging from noninvasive stool tests to visual exams like colonoscopy, depending on the preference of the patient and availability of the test.
After declining overall from 1970 to 2004, colon and rectal cancer mortality rates among 20- to 54-year-olds in the United States increased by 1% annually from 2004 to 2014, according to a study published last year in the medical journal JAMA.
“In people born more recently, they're at four times the risk for rectal cancer than people born in the '50s (at the same age), for example, and double the risk of colon cancer," he said. "It's what we call a birth cohort effect. Nobody knows why really clearly, and that's a big area of interest, but nobody's questioning that it's happening."
The American Cancer Society's newly updated guidelines for colon and rectal cancer screening recommend that adults at average risk get screened starting at age 45 instead of 50, as previously advised.
The updated guidelines come on the heels of what seems to be a rise in colorectal cancer among younger adults.
Published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians on Wednesday, the updated guidelines also indicate that there are six screening test options for adults, ranging from noninvasive stool tests to visual exams like colonoscopy, depending on the preference of the patient and availability of the test.
After declining overall from 1970 to 2004, colon and rectal cancer mortality rates among 20- to 54-year-olds in the United States increased by 1% annually from 2004 to 2014, according to a study published last year in the medical journal JAMA.
“In people born more recently, they're at four times the risk for rectal cancer than people born in the '50s (at the same age), for example, and double the risk of colon cancer," he said. "It's what we call a birth cohort effect. Nobody knows why really clearly, and that's a big area of interest, but nobody's questioning that it's happening."