Colorectal Cancer Screening: When to Start and Why It Saves Lives

What to know

Colorectal cancer screening saves lives.

When to get screened

• Ages 45 to 75: get screened regularly, starting at 45.
• Younger than 45 and think you're at high risk, or older than 75: talk to your doctor.

Colorectal cancer — cancer of the colon or rectum — often causes no symptoms, especially at first. That's why regular screening matters.

How screening helps

Abnormal growths called polyps can form in the colon or rectum, and some can turn into cancer over time. Screening tests:

• find polyps so they can be removed before they become cancer;
• find cancer early, when treatment works best.

There are several tests, some you can do at home, each with pros and cons. At 45 or older, ask your doctor about screening; if you may be at higher risk, talk with your doctor about when to start, which test, and how often.

In this CDC video, Erin and Sandy answer questions about a colonoscopy: the prep, the procedure and the follow-up. Audio description; also on YouTube, with a 30-second version.

Robert's story

Robert's father got colorectal cancer at 45. So at his yearly checkup, Robert asked his own doctor about screening. Because of his family history, the best test for him was a colonoscopy, which shows the whole colon. It found cancer.

"People tell me that they are scared to get screened, but I think it's scarier if you have a tumor that the doctor can't remove," Robert says. "If I hadn't been screened, I wouldn't have been able to see my son go off to college, or enjoy this next chapter of my life with my wife and family." More stories.

Screen for Your Life: three people choose to put their health first and get screened. CDC. Also on YouTube.

Spread the word

• March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month — CDC's short awareness videos: one, and a 6-second version.
• CDC's social media posts on screening.

Sources

Based on "Colorectal Cancer Awareness," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain. The two films are CDC's own, restored from the Internet Archive's copies of CDC's files because the import had kept only links. The page's stock photograph and Robert's portrait are not reproduced.