Nearly a Third of Eligible U.S. Adults Have Never Been Screened for Colorectal Cancer

By Amy Orciari Herman

An estimated 28% of U.S. adults aged 50 to 75 have never been screened for colorectal cancer, according to an analysis of data from the 2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey, published in MMWR.

Roughly two thirds of respondents were up-to-date with fecal occult blood testing (FOBT), sigmoidoscopy, or colonoscopy, as recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Colonoscopy was the most commonly used test (62% of screened respondents).

The CDC aims for an 80% screening rate by 2014, MMWR's editors note. They call for "aggressive approaches" to achieve this goal, "including more consistent promotion of both FOBT and colonoscopy as viable screening options."