COLORECTAL CANCER SCREENING CONTINUE TO INCREASE IN USA

July 6, 2011 — The rate of colorectal cancer screening in the United States continues to increase, according to Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who spoke at a press teleconference on July 5.
From 2002 to 2010, the percentage of people 50 to 75 years of age who were adequately screened for colorectal cancer increased from 52.3% to 65.4%, he reported.
That is an incremental improvement from the 63% recorded in 2008 and reported last year by the CDC.
"We've seen a remarkable increase in the level of screening until now," Dr. Frieden said. "Nearly two thirds of Americans were screened by 2010. However, there were still 22 million people in the age group of 50 to 75 who should have been screened, would have benefited from screening and weren't screened. Colon cancer is largely preventable."
There was more good news: colon cancer rates are down.
"Because of the increased screening, as well as other improvements in our health system and health status, colon cancer rates have decreased by more than 10% over the past 5 years," Dr. Frieden said.
In absolute numbers, this decrease translated into nearly 66,000 fewer people having colon cancer and more than 30,000 people not dying from colon cancer who otherwise would have, he added. "About half of both of those decreases were because of increased colon cancer screening," Dr. Frieden explained.
The CDC director used the press teleconference to remind reporters of the basics of colorectal cancer screening.
"If you are between 50 and 75 years of age or are at high risk for colon cancer because of a strong family history or other reasons, you should get screened for colon cancer," he said. Dr. Frieden sees physicians playing a big role in getting patients to undergo 1 of the 3 screening methods (fecal occult blood test, sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy).
"The largest single risk factor for not being screened for colon cancer is someone's doctor not recommending that they be screened. So doctors have a lot to do," he said.
Dr. Frieden also offered some personal history to illustrate the importance of the screening.
"I do have a strong family history of colorectal cancer, so I did have a colonoscopy at age 40. It was entirely normal. At age 50, I had another colonoscopy. I had 4 polyps, 2 of them large. All of them were removed before they became cancerous," he said. "If I hadn't had a colon cancer screening, I could well be dead in another 10 or 15 years."
He continued his personal story and encouraged other Americans to follow his example. "I anticipate that I will never have colon cancer because I will continue to get follow-ups to ensure that if there are growths, I will have them removed before they become cancerous. That's what I hope every American has the ability to have."
More Data
The new data on screening for colorectal cancers come from Vital Signs, a monthly report from the CDC that is published in the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The Vital Signs report is designed to provide the latest data and information on "key health indicators," such as cancer prevention, obesity, tobacco use, and asthma.
In the latest issue — on colorectal cancer screening, incidence, and mortality — the CDC indicates that it got screening data from the 2002–2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys. State-specific colorectal cancer incidence and mortality data came from the United States Cancer Statistics. Annual percentage changes in incidence and death rates from 2003 to 2007 were calculated by state.
In 2007, colorectal cancer incidence ranged from 34.3 per 100,000 population in Utah to 56.9 in North Dakota; death rates ranged from 12.3 per 100,000 in Utah to 21.1 in the District of Columbia.
From 2003 to 2007, colorectal cancer incidence declined significantly in 35 states. In addition, mortality declined in 49 states and in the District of Columbia, with annual percentage changes ranging from 1.0% per year in Alabama to 6.3% per year in Rhode Island, the CDC reports.
The authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2011;60:1-6. Full text