Latest news with #FolasadeMay
UPI
3 days ago
- Health
- UPI
UCLA study recommends mailing stool test kits for cancer screening
A study conducted by UCLA researchers indicates sending unsolicited stool test kits to people aged 45-49 is the most effective way to increase colon cancer screening. Photo by Tamas Soki/EPA Automatically mailing a stool test kit to people's homes might be the best way to boost colon cancer screening among younger adults, a new study says. More 45- to 49-year-olds went ahead with cancer screening when they received an unsolicited stool test kit in the mail, rather than having to actively opt into screening or choose a test, researchers reported Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "Removing the need for patients to actively opt into screening can lead to better outcomes, particularly when trying to engage younger, generally healthy adults who may not yet perceive themselves at risk for cancer," senior researcher Dr. Folasade May said in a news release. She's a gastroenterologist and cancer prevention researcher at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. The American Cancer Society lowered its recommended age to begin colon cancer screening from 50 to 45 in 2018, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force followed suit in 2021, researchers said in background notes. This move has increased the detection of early-stage colon cancers among people 45 to 49, according to ACS-led studies also published Aug. 4 in JAMA. But overall rates of colon cancer screening remain low among that age group, with one recent study finding that fewer than 2% get tested, researchers said. "When national guidance recommended screening adults age 45 to 49 for colorectal cancer for the first time, it wasn't clear how to best reach and screen this newly eligible population," May said. For this study, researchers randomly assigned more than 20,500 UCLA Health system patients in that age group to one of four outreach strategies. One group was asked if they'd like to opt into screening by receiving a mailed stool test, and another if they'd opt into screening with a colonoscopy. A third group was given the choice of opting in with their choice of a stool test or colonoscopy. The final group simply was sent a stool test automatically, without asking whether they'd like to opt into screening. Sending an unsolicited stool test wound up producing the best results, with a screening rate of more than 26%, researchers found. By comparison, only 17% got screened when asked to opt in with their choice of test, 16% to opt in with a mailed stool test, and under 15% to opt in with colonoscopy. Researchers also found that 73% of those with abnormal results on their stool test followed up with a colonoscopy within six months -- a key next step in seeing whether they actually had colon cancer. Although rates were still low even for automatically mailed kits, the approach represents a simple, low-cost step forward in boosting colon cancer screening in this age group, researchers said. "Our study showed that automated outreach can get results quickly and efficiently," May said. "More than 3,800 people were screened in just six months with minimal work required from our busy doctors. That's thousands of opportunities to catch cancer early or prevent it altogether." More information The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on colon cancer screening. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Hindustan Times
6 days ago
- Health
- Hindustan Times
A Turning Point in Colon Cancer: Young People Are Finding It Earlier
People under age 50 have been appearing increasingly at doctor's offices in the past few decades, complaining of blood in their stool or bowel or of abdominal trouble or unexplained weight loss. The diagnosis: colorectal cancer . And by that time, it was often too late. But that paradigm is finally starting to shift, at least for patients in their 40s. There has been a jump in people aged 45 to 49 getting screened for colorectal cancer, after recent medical guidelines lowered the screening age for those at average risk. As a result, the disease is being caught sooner, when it is more curable and the treatment is less grueling, according to new research from the American Cancer Society. The recent screening recommendations designed to catch cases sooner appear to be working. 'It's thrilling to see this,' said Rebecca Siegel, an epidemiologist at the ACS and an author of the new research. 'It means fewer deaths and higher quality of life for people who are diagnosed.' The findings come in a flurry of research published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Colorectal cancer screening in the U.S. for adults age 45 to 49 increased by 62% from 2019 to 2023, according to one ACS paper. Early-stage diagnoses then surged, including a 50% relative increase from 2021 to 2022, according to another ACS report. A trial of more than 20,000 people in the same age bracket was published by a separate group of researchers, showing that testing uptake increases when people are mailed stool tests by default, versus when they are asked if they want a test or a colonoscopy. Screening rates in the trial were low, however, with 19% of people in the trial overall opting to get screened. 'We probably shouldn't be wasting time asking patients first; we should send them what they need,' said Dr. Folasade May, the trial's senior author and a gastroenterologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. 'We have a long way to go.' Colorectal cancer rates have been rising for people under age 50 since the 1990s, and the disease is now the leading cause of cancer death among men in that group. Researchers are investigating everything from diet and lifestyle to environmental contaminants, to figure out why colorectal and other cancers are rising in younger adults. The ACS in 2018 started recommending that people with average risk as young as 45 years old get screened for colorectal cancer, down from the previous start of age 50. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force followed in 2021; their guidelines carry particular weight among primary-care providers and often lead to health-insurance coverage. Suddenly, millions of people were newly overdue for screening. For people in that 45-to-49 age bracket, cases jumped, going from about a 1% increase in the incidence rate each year since 2004 to a 12% annual rise from 2019 to 2022, the data show. The rise was driven by diagnoses of early-stage disease. A post-Covid rebound in people seeking healthcare could contribute to some of the increase, researchers said, but the change in screening guidance is likely the bigger factor. The trend looks similar to what happened among people ages 50 and above in the late 1990s, after screening was first recommended for them, said Caitlin Murphy, a cancer epidemiologist and professor of pediatrics at the University of Chicago, who wasn't involved in the studies. It will still take time to see what the impact on deaths looks like for the newly eligible, she said. 'Ultimately, the goal of screening is to reduce mortality, and we haven't seen that quite yet, simply because not enough time has gone by.' Up-to-date screening via colonoscopy for those aged 45 to 49 rose from around 20% of people in 2019 to about 28% in 2023, according to one of the ACS reports. A colonoscopy is the gold-standard test that also helps doctors remove polyps to actually prevent the cancer from forming. Alternatively, use of tests that look for blood or DNA changes in the stool also increased, rising from 1.3% to 7.1% in that age group. Screening rates remained mostly stable in all other age groups, the report found. Screening rates also remained unchanged for people ages 45 to 49 with less than a high-school education or who are uninsured. And they still trail behind those for older adults, who remain at higher risk. Factors including genetics, excess body weight, smoking cigarettes and a diet heavy in red and processed meats also increase a person's odds of developing the disease. People in the 45-to-49 age bracket account for nearly half of all colorectal cancers under age 50, ACS said. But that still leaves a lot of people who are at risk and are too young to be screened. 'I have patients in their 20s in my practice that would never fit the guidelines,' said Dr. Michael Cecchini, a medical oncologist and colorectal cancer specialist at Yale Cancer Center. 'We need to be thinking about it on our list of possible diagnoses.' Write to Brianna Abbott at
