Colorectal Cancer Prevention and Control Initiatives

Accomplishments

CDC aims to reduce the colorectal cancer death rate among adults aged 50 or older, an endeavor that furthers the agency's overarching goal of ensuring that people are healthy in every stage of life. To reach this end, CDC has implemented a broad-based colorectal cancer initiative designed to:

• Increase public awareness of colorectal cancer.
• Increase health care providers' awareness of colorectal cancer screening guidelines.
• Monitor national colorectal cancer screening rates.
• Promote increased patient-provider communication about colorectal cancer screening.
• Support quantitative and qualitative research efforts.
• Provide funding to state programs for colorectal cancer priorities.

This initiative has:

• Created and implemented Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign, a multimedia effort promoting colorectal cancer screening, since 1999. The campaign informs Americans, particularly men and women aged 50 or older, about colorectal cancer and the importance of routine screening.



• Supported the development and feasibility-testing of a colorectal cancer screening measure for addition to the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS), a national system that monitors the quality of care and the performance of managed care plans. This measure was adopted by the National Committee for Quality Assurance and is part of HEDIS 2004.



• Awarded $2.1 million in 2005 and $2.6 million in 2006 to establish a new colorectal cancer screening demonstration program to increase screening among Americans aged 50 years and older. Five program sites have been selected to participate in a 3-year program. Each site will focus on screening low-income men and women who have inadequate or no health insurance coverage for colorectal cancer screening. The demonstration program sites are:
  
  
  1. Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene—city-based (Baltimore)
  2. Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services—city-based (St. Louis)
  3. Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services—statewide
  4. Public Health - Seattle and King County, Seattle, WA—county-based (King, Clallam, and Jefferson Counties)
  5. Stony Brook University Medical Center/SUNY, New York—county-based (Suffolk County)
  
  The program sites also will provide diagnostic follow-up; conduct public education and outreach; establish standards, systems, policies, and procedures; develop partnerships; collect and track data; and evaluate the effectiveness of the demonstration program.



• Evaluated national and state capacity to meet increasing demands for—and costs of—colorectal cancer screening and follow-up examinations, by surveying national and state samples of health care providers who have access to endoscopic equipment for use in sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy.



• Collected, analyzed, and reported colorectal cancer screening rates from ongoing national surveillance systems, such as the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and National Health Interview Survey.



• Funded intervention research designed to test strategies that may increase colorectal cancer screening.

Ongoing Work

CDC promotes national colorectal cancer awareness, education, and screening by:

• Supporting a demonstration program to increase colorectal screening among Americans aged 50 years or older. Five program sites have been selected to participate in this 3-year demonstration, to screen low-income men and women who have inadequate or no health insurance coverage for colorectal cancer screening.



• Funding 21 state programs to implement specific colorectal cancer strategies identified in their statewide cancer control plans, through the National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (NCCCP).



• Educating health care providers and the public about the benefits of screening, the availability of screening procedures, and screening guidelines, through the Screen for Life campaign. Also through Screen for Life, CDC works with the Entertainment Industry Foundation's National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance and its cofounder, Katie Couric.



• Supporting epidemiologic, surveillance, and behavioral science research designed to expand the knowledge base and guide future interventions related to colorectal cancer. The results of this research help CDC focus its policies, programs, and campaigns on effective ways to increase screening rates and reduce deaths from colorectal cancer.



• Working with partners such as the American Cancer Society to support the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable, a coalition of organizations that educates medical providers and the public about the importance of colorectal cancer screening.

Future Directions

CDC will expand its colorectal cancer prevention and control initiative to:

• Evaluate and expand the community-based colorectal cancer screening demonstration programs.



• Increase support for research focused on improving colorectal cancer screening rates.



• Increase support for states, tribes/tribal organizations, and territories that are engaged in comprehensive approaches to preventing and controlling colorectal cancer.



• Develop new materials and strategies to increase the reach of Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign.

Related Materials

• 2006/2007 Colorectal Cancer Initiatives Fact Sheet (PDF-402KB) (fact sheet)

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