Study: At-home colorectal cancer screening may significantly cut colon cancer deaths
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- Reviewed by Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
Colorectal cancer, the third most diagnosed cancer among both men and women in the United States, is also the second leading cause of cancer death over all — and the leading cause among people under 50. Yet with early screening, colorectal cancers are often treatable, curable, and even preventable.
A study published in the August 2026 issue of JAMA Network Open found that participating in a colorectal cancer screening program using at-home fecal occult blood tests (FOBTs) might prevent over 40% of related deaths. The test involves collecting some stool to be analyzed for the presence of small amounts of blood.
For the study, Swedish researchers followed 376,511 adults ages 60 to 69 for up to 14 years. A study group of 203,692 of them were invited to be screened with an FOBT every other year; the others were invited at a later date or not at all and served as a control group.
After adjusting for various factors, the researchers found that colorectal cancer deaths were 43% lower among study group participants who were invited to be screened and actually underwent screening compared with the control group.
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and the American Cancer Society recommend that all adults at average risk for colorectal cancer begin screening at age 45. People at higher risk should begin screening earlier. The best initial test is colonoscopy, a procedure in which a doctor examines the colon and rectum using a flexible tube with a light and camera on the end. If no abnormalities are found, the test is repeated every 10 years until the person being screened reaches age 75.
Other options include the FOBT and a stool DNA test (such as Cologuard), which looks for both blood and genetic markers from cancer cells in stool. There also are two FDA-approved blood tests, Shield and SimpleScreen CRC, which detect tumor DNA fragments in blood.
Image: © Warawan Tongsri/Getty Images
About the Author
Lynne Christensen, Staff Writer
About the Reviewer
Robert H. Shmerling, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing
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