Women screened early are less likely to develop colorectal cancer.
A new study shows that women who start testing for colorectal cancer at 45 are much less likely to get the disease than those who don't test or who start testing at 50. The study's results, which were published online by JAMA Oncology on May 5, 2022, back up new national guidelines that say colorectal screening should start at age 45 instead of 50. This is because the number of young adults with colorectal cancer has gone up by 50% over the past 50 years.
The study, directed by Harvard researchers, analyzed 111,801 women (average age: 36) from the Nurses' Health Study II who were followed from 1991 to 2017. Every two years, participants reported whether or not they had undergone a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy, examinations that use a flexible tube and a camera to examine the colon and rectum. The tests allow doctors to find cancers early on and remove polyps that could turn into cancer.
