EVANSTON — The American Cancer Society recently released new guidelines for colorectal cancer screenings. The change would involve backing up the recommended screenings to age 45 from the earlier suggested age of 50.

According to the ACS, while incidence and deaths among those 55 and older is declining in recent years, the risk of colorectal cancer in adults between the ages of 45 and 49 is continuously rising. Between 1994 and 2014, researchers detected a 50-percent rise in colorectal cancer rates among adults under age 50.

Local general surgeon at Evanston Regional Hospital Ian Kendrick said he was excited upon hearing that the ACS had lowered the recommended screening age.

“I am pleased because my partner, Dr. (Greg) Yasuda, and I have been seeing an increase in colon cancer in patients 45 to 50 years of age,” Kendrick said. “The youngest I have seen here is 24 years old. I think diet and a sedentary lifestyle are contributing factors to the increase in younger people. In the 1940s and 1950s, colon cancer was rarer when people were eating healthier diets and were more active.”  

This new recommendation will raise questions about whether health insurers will pay for earlier tests.  The American Cancer Society’s advocate affiliate, the Cancer Action Network, is currently educating insurers, lawmakers and others about the rising rates of colon cancer among younger adults, 45 – 50 years of age.  

“Whether insurance will pay for the earlier screenings is a concern,” Kendrick said. “However, I will continue to pressure companies for payment when I see a need.  If they deny it I will call them up and talk to them. The American Cancer Society is a most prestigious and respected research organization and when they talk, everybody listens. I hope that will have an impact on the insurance companies.”

To encourage people to be screened, the ACS asks physicians to offer a patient a choice of six different screening options, from the most invasive procedure — the colonoscopy, which is usually done every 10 years — to lab tests done on stool samples that can be collected at home and are repeated more often and followed by colonoscopy if needed.

The ACS recommends that screenings should continue through age 75 and a discussion should be had with your doctor for those between 76 and 85 to weigh the risks and benefits of a colonoscopy.   However, if a patient has high risk factors such as a family history of colon cancer, their own history of inflammatory bowel disease, polyps, hereditary syndromes, or have had radiation to their abdomen or pelvic area to treat a prior cancer, then the benefits of a colonoscopy often far outweigh any risk involved.

Colorectal cancer develops gradually from benign polyps, which are growths on the lining of the colon and rectum. Removing the pre-cancerous polyps during a colonoscopy can nip colon cancer in the bud.  Colon cancer affects men and women equally. Symptoms of colorectal cancer often include rectal bleeding or blood in the stool, a change in bowel habits such as diarrhea or constipation that lasts more than a few days or weeks. 

Dr. Kendrick said people in their 30’s and 40’s might have early symptoms but don’t attribute it to cancer. They are busy with their jobs and families and tend to ignore health issues until it might be too late, he said.

“The last thing I want to say is that huge strides have not been made in colon cancer treatment as the actual rate of colon cancer is down due to the efforts over the last few decades in catching cancer earlier and also removing polyps before it even becomes cancer. The only thing we are seeing is an increase of incidence with 40- to 50-year-olds, and so the earlier screening is a way for us to reduce the burden of colon cancer in this age group.”