Push to #PrioritizeCRC: Advocacy group rallies to expand colorectal cancer screening
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Every March, Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month is celebrated to raise awareness of the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. This year, the Fight CRC advocacy group is pushing Congress to prioritize cancer screening policies.
“Colorectal cancer can be prevented if caught early, but one in three people are not up to date with colorectal cancer screening,” Molly McDonnell, vice president of advocacy at Fight CRC, said in a press release. “Our annual state proclamation campaign serves as a key opportunity to promote awareness in individual states and communities and garner support for research, screening, and funding.”
Throughout the campaign, Fight CRC advocates petitioned for state-level recognition of March as CRC Awareness Month — remarkably, the group noted that nearly all 50 states have issued proclamations. Advocates also gathered in Washington D.C. to rally and urge Congress to prioritize policies for CRC that will fund additional screening and research.
Fight CRC encourages supporters to post photos on social media with the hashtags #StrongArmSelfie and #PrioritizeCRC to raise awareness of colon and rectal cancers as well as support CRC survivors, caregivers and loved ones.
In recognition of CRC Awareness Month, Healio recaps the latest news and research you may have missed on colorectal cancer and the importance of early screening and detection.
VIDEO: With early-onset colorectal cancer cases on the rise, ‘everyone should be screened’
In this Healio video, Folasade P. May, MD, PhD, MPhil, emphasizes the importance of educating patients about colorectal cancer risk and screening all individuals at the “right age and at the right interval.”
“One of the most remarkable things that has happened in the last 30 years or so in the epidemiology of colorectal cancer is that it is becoming more common in people who are under age 50 or 55,” May, associate professor of medicine and director of the Melvin and Bren Simon Gastroenterology Quality Improvement Program at UCLA Health, told Healio. “We used to think of this as a disease that affected older individuals in their 60s and 70s. Now we have to teach our trainees and young doctors to look for this disease in people as young as their 30s.” Read more.
Q&A: Blue Lights Campaign spreads ‘urgency’ of message to screen for colorectal cancer
Over the past 10 years, the Blue Lights Campaign has illuminated in blue more than 30 iconic landmarks in Philadelphia and beyond to promote the importance of screening during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
“I want people that walk through Philadelphia in early March to feel wrapped in blue,” Marianne T. Ritchie, MD, founder and director of the Blue Lights Campaign and clinical associate professor of medicine at Thomas Jefferson University, told Healio. “When they see so many buildings that are blue, they’re going to realize there’s an urgency to the message and ask, ‘What is all this blue for?’ Hopefully, it will get people to think about screening [for CRC], even if it’s just a stool test.” Read more.
Blood-based test detects CRC with 83% sensitivity, ‘could help overcome’ screening barriers
A cell-free DNA blood-based test detected colorectal cancer with a sensitivity of 83% and a specificity of 90% for advanced neoplasia in an average-risk population, according to new data published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
“More than three out of four Americans who die from colorectal cancer are not up to date with their recommended screening, highlighting the need for a more convenient and less invasive screening method that can overcome barriers associated with traditional options,” Daniel Chung, MD, medical co-director at the Center for Cancer Risk Assessment and director at the High-Risk GI Cancer Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said in a related press release. “The ECLIPSE study results published [March 13, 2024] support the use of a blood test as a screening option that could help overcome these barriers and improve CRC screening rates.” Read more.
Colorectal cancer incidence steadily climbing among younger men vs. women
Colorectal cancer incidence has increased since 1988 among men but not women younger than 50 years, suggesting that patient sex should be factored in when determining screening age, data from an Austrian study showed.
“CRC incidence and mortality decreased in the U.S. and many European countries over the last 30 years among adults aged 55 years and older, which could be an effect of higher adherence to CRC screening programs,” Daniela Penz, MD, of the Austrian Society of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and colleagues wrote in JAMA Network Open. “At the same time, an increase in mortality and incidence rates among younger patients was noticed.” Read more.
ColoSense detects CRC, advanced adenomas with sensitivities of 94%, 46%
The ColoSense multitarget stool RNA test demonstrated high sensitivity for detection of colorectal cancer and advanced adenoma, notably in individuals aged 45 to 49 years, according to data in JAMA.
“There are currently no approved or cleared RNA-based molecular tests for the detection of CRC or advanced adenomas in average-risk individuals, prompting the need to provide a more convenient, noninvasive option for CRC screening,” Erica K. Barnell, MD, PhD, chief science officer and co-founder at Geneoscopy, told Healio. “Additionally, there is a notable gap in data regarding the efficacy of noninvasive screening tests for the younger age group.” Read more.
VIDEO: One in 10 FIT ‘unsatisfactory’ in screening for CRC, mainly due to patient error
In this Healio video, Rasmi Nair, MBBS, MPH, PhD, reports findings from a recent study, which showed 10% of at-home fecal immunological tests for colorectal cancer screening could not be processed, mostly due to specimen errors.
“We hope to learn more about where the blame lies,” Nair, assistant professor in the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, told Healio. “Is it more patient-related? Did the patient not understand the instructions with regards to FIT or was it more system- or provider-related? Although our research is great at identifying the issue, we still are not able to pinpoint the exact problem.” Watch here.
Shifting trends in CRC demographics, severity prove you are ‘not too young to have cancer’
Despite a decline in the overall incidence of colorectal cancer in the U.S., recent population-based data from the American Cancer Society show an alarming shift to younger age and more advanced disease at diagnosis.
“Although there is still progress in reducing incidence and mortality overall, if you pull up the hood, it becomes apparent that there are very concerning patterns in terms of the rapid shift to a younger patient population,” Rebecca Siegel, MPH, epidemiologist and senior scientific director of surveillance research at the American Cancer Society, told Healio Gastroenterology. “Those younger patients have unique needs compared to patients in their 70s, which was the more typical patient 20 to 30 years ago. Not only are we seeing younger patients, but also more advanced disease.” Read more.
VIDEO: ‘Never been more important’ to discuss value of CRC screening, early detection
In a Healio video exclusive, David M. Poppers, MD, PhD, explains why “now is the most important time” for colorectal cancer screening and how physicians can help make patients more comfortable with colonoscopy.
Patients, and even some physicians, often prefer to avoid discussion of anything “below the belts,” but overcoming the stigma is critical, Poppers, professor of medicine and director of GI quality and strategic initiatives at NYU Langone Health, said. Watch here.
Gut microbiome associated with precancerous lesions, future onset of colorectal cancer
The gut microbiome is linked to preexisting colorectal lesions, as well as future development of lesions, according to a presenter at UEG Week, and including microbiome biomarkers may improve noninvasive tests for colorectal cancer.
“We know the gut microbiome has been linked to colorectal cancer both directly by inducing renal toxicity or long-standing inflammation, but also indirectly through many different mechanisms,” Ranko Gacesa, MSc, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands, said during his presentation. Read more.
Q&A: Oncologist’s colorectal cancer diagnosis ‘changed the way I interact with patients’
A cancer diagnosis can be terrifying for any patient, but when a colorectal cancer researcher is diagnosed with the same disease that they spent years studying, it also transforms how they practice medicine and how they relate to patients.
Diagnosed with rectal cancer just as he was about to begin a faculty research position at University of Wisconsin Health, Dustin A. Deming, MD, noted that his diagnosis came as a shock, especially since “I had already dedicated my future career and research focus to treating patients with colon and rectal cancer.” Read more.
References:
- Fight Colorectal Cancer. Call-on Congress. https://fightcolorectalcancer.org/conc/. Accessed March 7, 2024.
- Fight Colorectal Cancer. Facts and Stats. https://fightcolorectalcancer.org/about-colorectal-cancer/facts-stats/. Accessed Feb. 29, 2024.
- Fight Colorectal Cancer. White House Declares March as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in 2024. https://fightcolorectalcancer.org/blog/white-house-proclaims-march-as-colorectal-cancer-awareness-month/. Accessed March 7, 2024.
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