Study: Majority of U.S. Adults Still Not Being Screened for Colorectal Cancer

The National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable reports that although the rationale for colorectal cancer screening is well established, the majority of adults in the United States still are not currently being screened for the disease.

The nation is foregoing an opportunity to reduce colorectal cancer-related mortality by an amount estimated at greater than 50 percent," the group reported in the journal Cancer.

The Roundtable, founded five years ago by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the American Cancer Society, has developed a strategic plan aimed at increasing the practice of screening for colorectal cancer and adenomatous polyps over the next decade.

The plan says that to increase colorectal cancer screening rates, the issues of patient and physician barriers to screening, lack of universal coverage, lack of incentives to motivate adherence, and expanded infrastructure must be addressed.

Other Sources: Cancer