Surgeons Should Play Leading Role in Advancing Colorectal Cancer Awareness

March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and the need for patients and surgeons to be proactive about screening and early detection is increasing. 

Survival continues to improve overall, but in the last few years, significant attention from the ACS and other healthcare organizations has been given to the dramatic and unexpected rise of colorectal cancer in those in younger individuals. In addition to high-profile cases and deaths from celebrities including actors James Van Der Beek, who passed away at age 48 in February, and Chadwick Boseman, who died at age 43 in 2020, a recent study found that colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death among those age 50 and younger.

Although the recommended age to begin screening was lowered by the US Preventive Services Task Force in 2021 to age 45, this recent research and anecdotal data suggest that abiding by that guideline alone may not be sufficient in all cases. Presentation of symptoms including rectal bleeding, changes in bowel habits, unexplained weight loss, should prompt an investigation and screening process in surgeons of all surgeons and clinicians.

“The rising incidence of colorectal cancer in younger people is very concerning. However, in most circumstances colorectal cancer is preventable by removing the precursor lesion—colorectal polyps,” said Steven D. Wexner, MD, FACS, system chief of colorectal surgery and professor of surgery at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC, and past Vice-Chair of the ACS Board of Regents. 

“Especially during National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, we need to remind our patients, friends, and family that screening colonoscopy saves lives,” he said.

Colonoscopy remains the gold standard for finding cancer, but noninvasive, stool-based test also are available, including fecal immunochemical tests and guaiac-based fecal occult blood tests.

Awareness of colorectal cancer is critical regardless of the age group, but with a wider range of people being diagnosed with colorectal cancer, surgeons of all disciplines are urged to remain cognizant about any updates in screening guidelines, ask their patients about their colorectal cancer screening status, and encourage active screening.

Read more about how the ACS is promoting National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and learn about the latest clinically relevant research from the Journal of the American College of Surgeons in the publications’ Colorectal Cancer collection.