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Date: Thursday, Jan. 23, 1997 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: AHCPR Public Affairs, 301/594-1364, Karen Carp ext. 1378, Salina Prasad, ext. 1317
Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. It is estimated that in 1996, 133,500 new cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed, and that colorectal cancer accounted for 54,900 deaths.
"This evidence report will improve the early detection and treatment of colorectal cancer by giving clinicians and others state-of-the-art information on screening and diagnostic tests to help them reduce the mortality from this deadly disease," said AHCPR Administrator Clifton R. Gaus. "Our goal is to make this information, and all the evidence reports released in the future, available in the public domain to the widest audience possible."
AHCPR's Evidence-Based Practice Initiative, established in October 1996, will provide medical societies, health care systems, purchasers, health plans, and others with a scientific foundation for developing and implementing their own clinical practice guidelines, performance measures, and other quality improvement tools. In December 1996, AHCPR issued a Request for Proposals to fund Evidence-based Practice Centers to produce future evidence reports and also published a notice in the Federal Register inviting nominations for report topics.
The Colorectal Cancer Screening Evidence Report is based on a systematic review of 3,500 citations from the scientific literature published between 1966 and 1994. The review found evidence that a reduction in deaths from colorectal cancer can be achieved through detection and treatment of early-stage colorectal cancers and the identification and removal of adenomatous polyps -- the precursors of colorectal cancers. Other findings include:
"Further research is needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of colorectal cancer screening tests and determine proper intervals for such testing.
The information contained in AHCPR's evidence report is the basis for a clinical practice guideline by the American Gastroenterology Association (AGA) on colorectal cancer screening that will be published in the February issue of Gastroenterology. The AGA led a consortium that directed an AHCPR-sponsored clinical practice guideline panel on colorectal cancer screening. Work on the AHCPR-sponsored guideline was discontinued when the agency ended its clinical practice guideline program and began developing evidence reports. The AGA then decided to sponsor its own science-based guideline on colorectal cancer screening.
"AGA's use of this information on colorectal cancer screening to develop its guideline on colorectal cancer screening demonstrates the importance and potential impact of AHCP's Evidence-based Practice Initiative," noted Dr. Gaus. "AHCPR is filling a need for comprehensively reviewed, rigorously analyzed science sought by public- and private-sector organizations to use in improving the quality of health care services they provide."
An executive summary of the Evidence Report on Colorectal Cancer Screening is available on AHCPR's World Wide Web site at: www.ahcpr.gov/, from AHCPR's Publications Clearinghouse at (800) 358-9295, and from AHCPR's Instant Fax, (301) 594-2800. The complete evidence report will be available in the near future.