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US health care facilities can meet 80% colorectal cancer screening goal

Health care centers in the United States have the capacity to meet colorectal cancer screening goals, but only half of adults are up-to-date on screening, according to data from a CDC study published in Cancer.

“Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among cancers that affect both men and women,” Djenaba A. Joseph, MD, MPH, medical director for the colorectal cancer control program for the CDC, and colleagues wrote. “Although screening for [colorectal cancer] has been shown to effectively reduce the incidence of and mortality from the disease, only 58% of adults aged 50 to 75 years were up-to-date with [colorectal cancer] screening in 2013. A recent initiative from the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable, a coalition of public, private and voluntary organizations, aims to increase screening prevalence to 80% in the eligible population by 2018.”

To determine if health care facilities in the United States could expand screening to meet that goal, the CDC researchers used mathematical modeling to estimate the number of colonoscopies or fecal immunochemical tests (FIT) that would be necessary every year to screen for colorectal cancer for 80% of adults in the recommended age group.

The researchers also used survey data from health care facilities that perform colonoscopies to determine the number performed in the United States each year. They then calculated how many more they could perform.

According to the researchers, if a national screening program started in 2014, approximately 47 million FIT procedures and 5.1 million colonoscopies would be needed annually by 2024 to screen the eligible population using a program using FIT as the primary test. Approximately 11 million to 13 million colonoscopies would be needed annually to screen the eligible population with a colonoscopy-only program. In addition, the researchers found that an estimated 15 million colonoscopies were performed in the United States in 2012, and an additional 10.5 million could be performed.

“[Colorectal cancer] screening is conducted with a variety of tests, most commonly colonoscopy and less frequently [fecal occult blood testing] or FIT,” Joseph and colleagues wrote. “Although it is unlikely that all eligible adults will be screening with a single test type, this analysis shows that the estimated colonoscopy capacity would be sufficient to screen them with a mix of tests.” – by Jason Laday

Disclosure: The study was funded by the CDC. Djenaba reports no relevant financial disclosures. See the full study for additional author disclosures.