Intended for healthcare professionals

News

Colorectal cancer: US guidelines urge screening from age 45 as incidence soars in younger adults

BMJ 2018; 361 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k2452 (Published 01 June 2018) Cite this as: BMJ 2018;361:k2452
  1. Owen Dyer
  1. Montreal

New guidelines from the American Cancer Society (ACS) recommend lowering the starting age for routine colorectal cancer screening by five years to age 45, driven by a relentless climb in incidence among younger adults in recent decades even as the disease has become rarer overall.1

Colorectal cancer was falling in all age groups until the mid-1980s, when it began to climb in young patients while continuing to fall in those over 55. Colorectal cancers have increased by 51% since 1994 among adults under 50, the society said. And this rise in risk is most striking in the youngest adults.

In adults …

View Full Text

Log in

Log in through your institution

Subscribe

* For online subscription