Colon Cancer Rates Sink as Screening Numbers Rise

Colon cancer rates are at an all-time low thanks to increased use of colonoscopy screenings, according to the American Cancer Society.

According to findings recently published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians and a companion report released by the American Cancer Society (ACA), colon cancer incidence rates have fallen by nearly 30 percent among adults 50 years old and older. Seniors have seen the largest drop in colon cancer cases, with a mere 7.2 percent of U.S. citizens past the age of 65 getting diagnosed with the cancer each year.

According to the findings, this has followed a trend seen between 2001 and 2010, where overall rated of colon cancer incidents dropped approximately 2.4 percent each year.

The ACS says this has everything to do with the fact that colonoscopy screening rates have nearly tripled over the last ten years, with annual colonoscopies among 50 to 75 years older increasing from 19 percent in 2000 to 55 percent in 2010.

Experts from the ACS have predicted that well over 136,000 people will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer in the U.S. this year. More than 50,000 of those people are predicted to die from the disease. Still, although tragic, these numbers are much smaller than years past, indicating that an ever-increasing colonoscopy screening rate in the U.S. is helping save lives by a significant amount.

However, not everything is good news. The same report indicates that people under the age of 50 have seen a slight increase in the number of colon cancer rates, rising by 1.1 percent a year since 2000. ACS experts have attributed this rise in colorectal cancer in younger adults to increased obesity rates among that same demographic, suggesting that unhealthy diets contribute to an increased risk of developing certain cancers.

Still, the ACS says that these results are encouraging, with larger generations becoming eligible for Medicare when they turn 65, the report shows that individuals suddenly are more likely to undergo a colonoscopy, which can be a life-saving but uncomfortable and time saving procedure. New technologies are making colonoscopies more comfortable for some, but an increased awareness of colon cancer throughout the U.S. may also have contributed to such a striking rise in testing rates.

The report was published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians and The American Cancer Society "Colorectal Cancer Facts & Figures."