The Canadian Association of Gastroenterology released new national colorectal cancer screening guidelines suggesting at-risk individuals should begin screening between the ages of 40 and 50, or 10 years earlier than when an immediate relative was diagnosed, The Globe And Mail reports.
Here's what you should know:
1. The guidelines were published in Gastroenterology.
2. CAG designed the guidelines to screenhigh-risk individuals, regardless of their age. The guidelines also apply to people with immediate family members who have histories of advanced precancerous polyps.
3. CAG still advises the general population to begin screening at 50, bucking the American Cancer Society's May guideline recommending the general population begin screening at 45.
3. CAG distinguished between first- and second-degree relatives as well, recommending those with second-degree relatives with CRC stick to the general population guidelines.
4. Shady Ashamalla, MD, a colorectal cancer surgeon at Toronto, Ontario-based Sunnybrook Hospital, said the guidelines are, "a signal to clinicians that they can, and should, start screening higher-risk patients at younger ages, even in their 20s and 30s." Dr. Ashamalla was not involved in the guideline creation process.
5. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, CRC is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in Canada, the second most deadly for men and the third most deadly for women.