Colorectal Cancer Screening Guidelines Include New Alternative to Colonoscopy

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has updated its colorectal cancer screening recommendations to include new blood and stool-based tests. The new guidelines reflect the availability of new disease detection technology and the need to expand access to screenings. The ACS states that screenings are vital as colorectal cancer rates continue to rise in adults under 50.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) has updated its guidelines for colorectal cancer screening to include new blood-based and at-home stool tests. The new blood test screens for tumor DNA, while the at-home tests look for DNA, RNA, and blood markers in stool samples. The updated guidelines still retain ACS recommendations for starting colorectal cancer screening at age 45 and having colonoscopies done every 10 years for people who are at average risk of colorectal cancer. ACS officials said the new guidelines reflect advances in disease detection and a shift in public health strategy to expand screening options and lower barriers to access. “We need to increase our emphasis on colorectal cancer as a highly preventable disease as much as a treatable one,” said Robert Smith , PhD, senior vice president for early cancer detection science at the American Cancer Society and senior author of the report, in a news release . “By offering more screening tools in our guideline update, more eligible adults will be able to participate in lifesaving colorectal cancer testing, helping to close the screening gap and catch more cancers at an earlier, treatable stage,” Smith continued. Experts not involved in the report told Healthline that providing more alternatives to colonoscopy is a good course of action. “I definitely think that presenting more options is better,” said Babak Firoozi , MD, a gastroenterologist at MemorialCare Orange Coast Medical Center in California. “It helps to have these available. It’s important to increase the number of people who are being screened anyway we can,” he said. Anton Bilchik , MD, a surgical oncologist, chief of medicine, and the director of the Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Program at Providence Saint John’s Cancer Institute in California, agreed. “There are so many people who don’t have access or don’t want to do a colonoscopy screening,” he said.

Key points

• The American Cancer Society (ACS) has updated its guidelines for colorectal cancer screening to include new blood-based and at-home stool tests.
• The new blood test screens for tumor DNA, while the at-home tests look for DNA, RNA, and blood markers in stool samples.
• The updated guidelines still retain ACS recommendations for starting colorectal cancer screening at age 45 and having colonoscopies done every 10 years for people who are at average risk of colorec…
• ACS officials said the new guidelines reflect advances in disease detection and a shift in public health strategy to expand screening options and lower barriers to access.
• “We need to increase our emphasis on colorectal cancer as a highly preventable disease as much as a treatable one,” said Robert Smith , PhD, senior vice president for early cancer detection science…