USPSTF Draft Statement: Screening for Colon Cancer Recommended

By Kristin J. Kelley

Edited by Jaye Elizabeth Hefner, MD

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force continues to recommend colorectal cancer screening for adults aged 50 to 75 years old. The grade A draft recommendation reinforces the task force's 2008 position.

Screening is beneficial for older patients (76 to 85 years) if they are healthy enough for cancer treatment, don't have other factors that might limit life expectancy, or haven't been previously screened (grade C recommendation).

The group recommends screening with colonoscopy every 10 years, annual fecal immunochemical testing (FIT), or annual high-sensitivity guaiac-based fecal occult blood testing (gFOBT). The current update changes the past recommendation for flexible sigmoidoscopy from every 5 years with FIT to every 10 years and doesn't include using sigmoidoscopy with gFOBT.

The agency notes that there is "greater uncertainty" about the net benefits of screening with alternative methods such as computed tomography colonography and multitargeted stool DNA testing.