(Atlanta, GA) — The American Cancer Society has released new guidelines relating to screening for colorectal cancer.
For the first time, the ACS is recommending a blood test, as well as a colonoscopy starting at age 45 for people with average risk and through age 75. The updated guidelines call for blood screening in a doctor’s office, a new stool sample kit and an FDA-approved at-home test that look for colorectal cancer markers in stool samples.
The American Cancer Society predicts that there’ll be close to 160-thousand new diagnoses this year and more than 55-thousand deaths. Colorectal cancer is now the deadliest cancer among adults under the age of 50.
