Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/NkvA7GZpqBA

 

Waiting until age 50 to screen for bowel cancer is too late.  Tulane University researchers reviewed data from 92 million Americans looking at the incidence of colon cancer for each one year age group from 30 to 60 years.

 

There is a 46% increase in cancer incidence between ages 49 and 50 indicating that these additional cancers had a delayed diagnosis.  Confirming this situation, 92% of these extra cancers are invasive requiring radical surgery and chemotherapy,

 

The US Preventive Services Task Force continues to recommend waiting for screening until 50.  The American Cancer Society now says 45, and this study supports screening at that younger age. 

 

Abualkhair WH, Zhou M, Ahnen D, Yu Q, Wu X, Karlitz JJ. Trends in Incidence of Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer in the United States Among Those Approaching Screening Age. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(1):e1920407. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.20407

 

#coloncancer #screening #cancercoloncancer, screening