New guidance for colorectal cancer screening

摘要

"Colorectal cancer screening comes of age", declared Sidney J Winawer, past president of the American College of Gastroenterology, in 1993- Yet after almost two decades, only 6l% of the eligible population in the USA gets screened forthis common cancer. To encourage more people to participate in colorectal cancer screening, the American College of Physicians (ACP) issued new guidance on March 6. The statement is based on a critical review of existing guidelines developed by other US organisations including the American Cancer Society. ACP calls for colorectal cancer screening to start at the age of 50 years for people at average risk, and at 40 years (or 10 years before the age of the youngest case of colorectal cancer in a family) for people at high risk. Stool-based tests, flexible sigmoidoscopy, and optical colonoscopy are all acceptable screening options for people at average risk, say ACP, while the gold standard-optical colonoscopy-is recommended for people at high risk.