Colorectal Cancer Screening (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version

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Changes to This Summary (02/07/2018)

The PDQ cancer information summaries are reviewed regularly and updated as new information becomes available. This section describes the latest changes made to this summary as of the date above.

Description of the Evidence

Updated statistics with estimated new cases and deaths for 2018 (cited American Cancer Society as reference 2). Also revised text to state that from 2005 to 2014, incidence declined by 3.8% per year for colon cancer and by 3.5% per year for rectal cancer among adults aged 55 year and older; however, in adults younger than 55 years, incidence rates have been increasing by 1.4% per year for colon cancer and by 2.4% per year for rectal cancer. Also revised text to state that from 2006 to 2015, mortality from colorectal cancer declined by 2.9% per year among adults aged 55 years and older but increased by 1% per year among adults younger than 55 years.

Evidence of Benefit

Revised text to state that there was no difference in all-cause mortality between the screened groups and the control groups, although a recent review suggested at most a small significant improvement in all-cause mortality (cited Swartz et al. as reference 1).

This summary is written and maintained by the PDQ Screening and Prevention Editorial Board, which is editorially independent of NCI. The summary reflects an independent review of the literature and does not represent a policy statement of NCI or NIH. More information about summary policies and the role of the PDQ Editorial Boards in maintaining the PDQ summaries can be found on the About This PDQ Summary and PDQ® - NCI's Comprehensive Cancer Database pages.

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