Scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital found that screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) in women before the age of 50 can strongly reduce the risk of CRC.
The finding supports recommendations from the American Cancer Society and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force over the past four years to commence screening at age 45 to address the steady increase in cases of younger-onset CRC.
The research is published in JAMA Oncology and was conducted by Andrew Chan et al.
While there’s been an alarming increase in the incidence of colorectal cancer in recent decades in younger individuals, screening has largely been focused on people over 50.
Among all cancers, colorectal has the third-highest incidence of death in both men and women in the U.S.
Even as the overall number of CRC cases has declined, the incidence among people younger than 50—a group for whom routine screening was not recommended until only recently—increased by 51% from 1974 to 2013, according to epidemiological data.
In the study, the team examined data of 111,801 women from the Nurses’ Health Study II, a large cohort of registered nurses residing in 14 states.
They found a 50–60% lower risk of CRC among women who started endoscopy screening at age 45 compared to those who had not undergone screening at all.
In addition, they learned that starting screening at ages 45 to 49 resulted in a big reduction in the population’s actual cases of CRC diagnosed through age 60, compared to a strategy in which women began screening at ages 50 to 54.
While the study was focused on women, the team suggests the same benefits likely accrue to men, though he adds further studies are needed.
The traditional CRC screening tool is colonoscopy, where a physician uses a flexible tube with a camera to examine the colon and rectum.
This invasive technique allows for the removal of polyps that could over time become malignant, and for the detection of early-stage cancers that can be treated more effectively.
Options for screening have expanded more recently through stool-based tests that are non-invasive and may be more convenient for individuals.
If you care about colon cancer, please read studies about gut bacteria that could increase your colon cancer risk, and drug that could stop colon cancer growth and recurrence.
For more information about cancer risk, please see recent studies about 3 things that could increase risk of colon cancer, and results showing this imaging tech could detect colon cancer with 100% accuracy.
Copyright © 2022 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
