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Screening for Colorectal Cancer

In 2016, the United States Preventive Services Task Force updated its recommendations for screening for colorectal cancer. The Task Force recommends the following:

•	Screen for colorectal cancer starting at age 50 and continuing until age 75 years (A recommendation)
•	Adults aged 76 to 85 can make individualized decisions about screening based on their screening history and health (C recommendation); never-screened and healthier adults are more likely to benefit.
•	Adults older than age 85 can forego screening because other causes of death preclude a benefit from detecting cancer through screening.

Patients and physician can choose among available screening tests because there is no information demonstrating that any one is better than another; the best test is the one most likely to lead to patient adherence to screening over time.

Source: USPSTF and The JAMA Network, June 2016

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