OHIO — The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has lowered the recommended age for when individuals should get a colonoscopy.
Before, the age recommendation was 50 to 75. Now, it’s 45 to 75.
The task force said young people have been increasingly diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and it’s projected to kill 53,000 Americans in 2021.
In 2018, the American Cancer Society also lowered its recommendation to 45-year-olds.
“We’ve seen a stunning increase in colon and rectal cancer over the last 30 years in inidivduals between the ages of 20- to 49-years-old, typically a group that hasn’t been screened,” said Dr. Carol Burke with the Cleveland Clinic.
The rates have gone up 1% per year over the last decade in individuals between 45 and 50, said Burke. Colon cancer is third-most diagnosed cancer in men and women in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society.
“Colon cancer starts as a small growth inside the colon lining. The best test to detect it is colonoscopy,” said Burke.
Watch the full interview above to learn why getting a colonoscopy five years earlier can prevent severe cases of colon and rectal cancer.
