DDW: Systematic Program Increases Likelihood of Up-to-Date Colorectal Cancer Screening

FRIDAY, April 25, 2025 (HealthDay News) — A systematic program of monitoring colorectal cancer (CRC) screening status increases up-to-date screening status, according to a study presented at the 2025 Digestive Disease Week, held from May 3 to 6 in San Diego.

Douglas Corley, M.D., Ph.D., from Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Pleasanton, and colleagues analyzed data from nearly 1.1 million adults aged 50 to 75 years across 22 medical centers from 2000 to 2019 to examine screening and CRC-related outcomes. Programmatic screening was introduced in 2006 to 2008, with annual ascertainment of up-to-date status by colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, or fecal immunochemical testing (FIT); for those not up-to-date, mailed outreach was performed using FIT.

The researchers found that after introduction of systematic FIT-based screening, up-to-date screening status more than doubled, from 37.4 to 79.8 percent between 2000 and 2019, with similar patterns seen across all racial and ethnic groups. CRC incidence rates increased in these groups from 109.1 to 126.4 cases per 100,000 in 2002, concordant with increased screening prevalence. Rates then peaked during 2008 to 2010, consistent with increased early detection of cancers, and then decreased gradually, in accordance with cancer prevention resulting from polyp detection and removal, to 66.3, 78.3, 78.4, and 87.1 cases per 100,000 in Asian, Hispanic, White, and Black members, respectively, in 2019. From 2002 to 2019, there was a decrease noted in CRC-related deaths to 15.3, 20.7, 21.9, and 23.5 per 100,000 in Asian, White, Hispanic, and Black members, respectively.

“Ten years ago, there were big gaps in cancer risk and death, especially among our Black patients,” Corley said in a statement. “Now, those differences are nearly gone.”

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