Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates

Prevention and Early Detection: Keys to Reducing Deaths

Reducing the number of deaths from colorectal cancer depends on detecting and removing precancerous colorectal polyps, as well as detecting and treating the cancer in its early stages.

• Colorectal cancer can be prevented by removing precancerous polyps (abnormal growths), which can be present in the colon for as many as 10 years before invasive cancer develops.
• When colorectal cancer is found early and treated, the 5-year relative survival rate is 90%. Because screening rates are low, less than 40% of colorectal cancers are found early.
• One U.S. clinical trial reported a 33% reduction in colorectal cancer deaths and a 20% reduction in colorectal cancer incidence among people offered an annual fecal occult blood test (FOBT).

Percentage* of adults aged ≥50 years who reported receiving a FOBT within the past year and/or a lower endoscopy^† within the past 10 years, by state—Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), United States, 2006^‡

*Age-standardized to the 2006 BRFSS population age ≥ 50.
^† Lower endoscopy refers to flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy.
^‡ Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007.

Percentage* of adults aged ≥50 years who reported receiving a FOBT within the past year and/or a lower endoscopy^† within the past 10 years, by state—Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), United States, 2004^‡

*Age-standardized to the 2006 BRFSS population age ≥ 50.
^† Lower endoscopy refers to flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy.
^‡ Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005.

Underuse of Screening

• Colorectal cancer screening remains underused, despite the availability of effective screening tests.
• Screening for colorectal cancer lags far behind screening for breast and cervical cancers.
• Findings from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), which is administered by CDC, indicate that in 2005, only 50% of U.S. adults age 50 or older had undergone a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy within the previous 10 years or had used a fecal occult blood test (FOBT) home test kit within the preceding year.
• Screening for colorectal cancer was particularly low among those respondents who lacked health insurance, those with no usual source of health care, and those who reported no doctor's visits within the preceding year.
• As many as 60% of deaths from colorectal cancer could be prevented if everyone age 50 and older were screened regularly.

For more information, visit Screening and Risk Factors Report.