Colon and Rectal Cancers - Highlights

Highlights

Colorectal Cancer Screening Guidelines

A number of major organizations, including The American Cancer Society, The US Preventive Services Task Force, and The American College of Gastroenterology, have created guidelines related to screening for colorectal cancer.

Overall, their recommendations are fairly similar. However, some differences exist between the different guidelines. These differences are related to:

• Which tests are recommended or preferred
• The recommended frequency at which the screening tests should be performed
• When screening should begin or end

Screening tests that are addressed in the guidelines include:

• Flexible sigmoidoscopy
• Colonoscopy
• Double-contrast barium enema (DCBE)
• CT colonography (CTC), also called virtual colonoscopy

Stool test options for screening include:

• Guiaiac-based fecal occult blood test (FOBT) with high test sensitivity
• Fecal immunochemical test (FIT) with high sensitivity
• Stool DNA test (sDNA)

Review Date: 10/21/2010
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).

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