New recommendation: Earlier colorectal cancer screening

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In a major guideline update, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) now endorses screening for colorectal cancer starting at age 45 rather than 50. But the change comes with a caveat: the evidence for benefits from screening at age 45 isn’t as strong as it is for ages 50 to 75. The guideline update, published May 18, 2021, in JAMA, is the first in five years and brings the USPSTF’s advice in line with the American Cancer Society’s 2016 call to begin screening at 45. What if you’re older than 75? The USPSTF found no strong evidence of benefit to screening after age 75, especially if earlier tests found no cancer. And a separate study by Harvard researchers, published online May 20, 2021, by JAMA Oncology, found that a large group of health care professionals who underwent screening colonoscopy after age 75 were somewhat less likely to develop colorectal cancer or die from it. So if you’re 75 or older, and otherwise healthy and free of major chronic illnesses, it’s not unreasonable to continue screening.

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