Colon cancer screening should start early at age 45, according to the US panel

Adults should Start regular screening for colorectal cancer at age 45Instead of waiting until the age of fifty on Tuesday, the government’s task force recommended a move that reflected the surge in numbers of colon and rectal cancers in young adults.

Proposals by the US Preventive Medicine Committee still have to be finalized. Guidance on screening and preventive care services is followed by doctors, insurance companies and policy makers.

Although the majority of colorectal cancers are still found over the age of 50, according to a study by the American Cancer Society, 12% (about 18,000) of 147,950 colorectal cancers diagnosed this year are in adults under the age of 50. Will be discovered. The incidence of colorectal cancer in people born between 1890 and 1950 is steadily declining and increasing with each generation born after the mid-21st century.

Many early-onset cancers are diagnosed in adolescents in their 20s and 30s who are not covered by the proposed recommendations. For example Chadwick BosemanAn actor who starred in movies such as “Black Panther” died in August at the age of 43 from a colon cancer that was diagnosed a few years ago. Still, advocates of cancer patients welcomed the Task Force proposal as a major step forward and said it could save tens of thousands of lives.

The Commission emphasized that due to the high incidence of illness and high mortality in African-American communities, healthcare providers should especially encourage black men and women to be screened at age 45. did.

“This is probably the best news for colorectal cancer patients and survivors I remember over the last 10 or 20 years,” said Michael Sapienza, chief executive officer of the advocacy group Colorectal Cancer Alliance. Stated. “We have been fighting for this for a long time. This is a big victory for our community and a big milestone for the colorectal cancer community and cancer treatment.”

Physicians treating cancer patients also praise this recommendation, paying attention to concerns about early-onset colon and rectal cancer, and alerting both primary care physicians and young adults to warning signs such as rectal bleeding and changes in defecation. I urge you. The Panel refused to reduce the screening age when it last updated its recommendations in 2016.

“Life will be saved,” said Dr. Kimmy Ng, director of the Center for Young-onset Colorectal Cancer at the Dana-Farber Institute in Boston. “We prevent cancer in adolescents, detect it at an early stage that is likely to cure it, and hopefully improve survival.”

Dr. Scott Copetz, a gastrointestinal oncologist at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, agreed. “One in three of the current patients we see is under the age of fifty,” he said. “That’s a big problem.”

However, some critics said the draft recommendation was significantly delayed, far behind the data showing an increase in colorectal cancer in young adults. 2018 American Cancer Society We recommend that you start regular screening at 45:00. Includes a particularly sharp increase in rectal cancer, after an independent researcher reports a sharp increase in illness in adults in their 20s and 30s.

Jim Nawen, 54, from Newton, Massachusetts, had stage 3 rectal cancer at age 49 after urging doctors to jump to colonoscopy before turning 50. I found out. However, this procedure detected a baseball-sized tumor.

“If I was screened at the age of 45, no one can say specifically, but it’s probably a zapping polyp, and we’re all on the road, or perhaps with stage 1 cancer. I did, “Mr. Nawen said. Instead, he endured three surgeries: chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Young patients say their complaints are often dismissed by doctors.According to a report from the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, 81% of young adults with colorectal cancer investigated Experienced at least 3 cancer symptoms Before they were diagnosed, more than half were misdiagnosed and said they had hemorrhoids, anemia, irritable bowel syndrome, and even mental health problems.

At one point, 47-year-old Kim Newcomer, who manages the Alliance’s Never Too Young program, learned of advanced rectal cancer at age 35 but had to fight to have a colonoscopy. “Women’s hysteria.” She said, “It’s a step in the right direction, but there’s always a lot to do.”

The Task Force makes recommendations based on scientific evidence, and Dr. Alex Krist, a family doctor at Virginia Commonwealth University and chair of the Task Panel, screened adults aged 45-75 years by reviewing the evidence. He said it was shown to be the most profitable. , Not a young adult.

“The risk of developing colon cancer at age 45 today is the same as at age 50 in the past,” said Dr. Krist.

The recommendations by the Task Force, an independent group of experts appointed by the Department of Health and Human Services, are draft proposals. The next step is for the panel to post a draft for review, solicit four weeks of public comment, and then make the final recommendation. The panel that assigns letter grades to guidance has assigned a “B” to the new recommendations. This means that the certainty of profits is high or moderate, but most private insurance plans need to fully cover the services that receive either “A” or “A”. Once the recommendation is approved, a “B” grade with no out-of-pocket costs to the patient. (For people between the ages of 76 and 85, the Commission has not changed to encourage patients to discuss the risks and benefits of screening with care providers.)

People often think of colonoscopy when thinking about screening for colon cancer, but the Task Force identifies signs of cancer based on direct visualization tests such as colonoscopy and stool samples. We recommend choosing a test that can be done. Stool-based tests are non-invasive and can be done at home, but should be done more often. Colonoscopy is an invasive test with some risks, but it can be done every 10 years.

The recommendation for enhanced screening is a task force anomaly, which rolled back screening for reproductive cancer in some women over a decade ago. In 2009, the panel said a woman The first Papanicolaou smear should be delayed until the age of 21, And are screened less frequently than before.That same year, the panel recommended women Start routine mammogram at 50 It’s not 40 years old, it’s held every other year instead of every year.