Polymedco CDP, LLC. Announces Updated American Cancer Society Guidelines for Colorectal Cancer Screening

CORTLANDT MANOR, N.Y., June 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Cancer Society (ACS) has just changed its guidelines for colorectal cancer screening.  The important change is that the recommended age to begin screening has been lowered from 50 to 45 years of age.  The update is summarized below:

The ACS recommends that people at average risk* of colorectal cancer start regular screening at age 45. This can be done either with a sensitive test that looks for signs of cancer in a person's stool (a stool-based test), or with an exam that looks at the colon and rectum (a visual exam).

People who are in good health and with a life expectancy of more than 10 years should continue regular colorectal cancer screening through the age of 75.

For people ages 76 through 85, the decision to be screened should be based on a person's preferences, life expectancy, overall health, and prior screening history.

People over 85 should no longer get colorectal cancer screening.*

This important change has been made in response to the increased incidence of colorectal cancer among younger individuals.

The American Cancer Society and National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable have recently expanded their "80% by 2018" initiative to screen 80% of the US population for colorectal cancer by 2018 to the "80% Pledge", an ongoing and evolving initiative to screen 80% of the US population.**

As the leading provider of FIT testing products, Polymedco would be happy to assist you in transitioning to screen younger patients.  Together, we can now take even more steps to screening 80% of the population for colorectal cancer.

For more information, please visit our website: https://www.polymedco.com or contact us at 800-431-2123 or [email protected].

* https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/acs-recommendations.html
** http://nccrt.org/what-we-do/80-percent-by-2018/

SOURCE Polymedco

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