Get Screened Earlier For Colorectal Cancer, Urges American Cancer Society
Noting a sharp rise in colorectal cancer among younger people, the American Cancer Society now suggests that healthy adults get their first screening five years earlier — at age 45.
Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States, most frequently diagnosed among adults over 65. To catch those typically slow-growing malignancies early, when they can often be cured, most doctors' groups recommend colorectal cancer screening starting at age 50.
But the American Cancer Society this week changed its advice and is recommending that screening start five years earlier.
"There is compelling evidence that the optimum age to start is now 45," says , chief cancer control officer of the society, who cites a sharp from colon and rectal cancers among men and
