Over the past decade colon cancer rates have dropped 30 percent in the U.S. among over 50s thanks to an "uptake" in colonoscopies.
Colonoscopy use has almost tripled in adults between the ages of 50 and 75; the rate jumped from 19 percent in 2000 to 55 percent in 2010, an American Cancer Society news release reported.
Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S. Since it grows relatively slowly, early detection and removal of precancerous growths could greatly influence the survival rate; frequent screening helps promote early detection.
Over the past 10 years the overall number of colon cancer cases has decreased by about 3.4 percent per year. "Rates declined by 3.9 percent per year among adults aged 50 years and older, but increased by 1.1 percent per year among men and women younger than 50," the news release reported.
The decline in colon cancer cases has been especially prevalent in adults over 65, which was at 7.2 percent between the years of 2008 and 2010.
"[The] larger declines among Medicare-eligible seniors likely reflect higher rates of screening because of universal insurance coverage," the authors wrote, according to the news release. "In 2010, 55 percent of adults aged 50 to 64 years reported having undergone a recent colorectal cancer screening test, compared with 64 percent of those aged 65 years and older."
Mortality rates from colon cancer have also declined over the past decade, which have decreased by about three percent per year.
"These continuing drops in incidence and mortality show the lifesaving potential of colon cancer screening; a potential that an estimated 23 million Americans between ages 50 and 75 are not benefiting from because they are not up to date on screening," Richard C. Wender, M.D., American Cancer Society chief cancer control officer, said in the news release. "Sustaining this hopeful trend will require concrete efforts to make sure all patients, particularly those who are economically disenfranchised, have access to screening and to the best care available."
