VIDEO: Ohio State University program aims to increase CRC screening in Black patients
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In a Healio video exclusive, Subhankar Chakraborty, MD, PhD, a gastroenterologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, outlines a new initiative that aims to cut colorectal cancer screening disparities in half by 2023.
According to a university press release, colon cancer screening rates decreased approximately 80% during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, even before the pandemic, Black patients were 20% more likely to be diagnosed with colon cancer and 40% more likely to die of the disease compared with non-Hispanic white patients.
A new outreach program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–James aims to mediate the inequities in CRC screening accessibility by mailing free at-home fecal immunochemical test kits to 400 Black primary care patients who have not yet had a routine colonoscopy. The tests will be mailed back to OSU for analysis, and patients with abnormal results will undergo a follow-up colonoscopy so polyps may be identified, removed and tested.
“We are continuing to strengthen our multidisciplinary teams so that we can achieve the goal of reducing the number of new colorectal cancers,” Chakraborty said. “While early colorectal cancer gives you a 90% chance of cure, most colorectal cancers are diagnosed at a late stage where the rate of cure can be as low as 10%. However, if you get screened for colorectal cancer, and we can catch the growths before they develop into cancer and remove them, then you have a 100% chance of survival.”
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