Screening has prevented more than 500K colorectal cancers

Colorectal cancer screening has prevented more than 500,000 cancers in the U.S. over the past 30 years, according to a study published online by Yale University researchers in Cancer.

For the study, lead author Dr. James Yu and colleagues examined colorectal cancer incidence data from the U.S. National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database between 1976 and 2009. The group found that the incidence of late-stage cancer decreased over the more than 30-year time span from 118 cases per 100,000 people 50 years or older to 74 cases (Cancer, June 3, 2014).

Yu's team also found that the incidence of early-stage cancers declined from 77 to 67 cases per 100,000 people 50 years or older, during a period in which cancer screening increased from 34.8% to 66.1%. After adjusting for trends in cancer incidence, Yu and colleagues calculated that there was a reduction of 550,000 cancers during this period of increased screening.