About half the decline in colon-cancer deaths over the last several years is due to higher screening rates, the CDC says. Thanks to increased awareness — including, yes, the famous Katie Couric on-air colonoscopy — screening rates rose to 65% last year from 52% in 2002, the agency’s latest stats show . The United States Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening for adults from age 50 to 75 using a fecal occult blood test, sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. (The American Cancer Society has similar recommendations .) From 2003 to 2007, the incidence of colon cancer dropped by 3.4% per year, while the death rate dropped by 3% a year, the CDC says. That adds up to about 66,000 fewer cases and 32,000 fewer deaths than expected. Besides more screening, reductions in risk factors such as smoking and obesity and

improved treatments helped lower the death rate. CDC head Thomas Frieden used himself as an example, saying he had his first colonoscopy at age 40 due to a family history of the disease. That screening found nothing, but a test at age 50 found four noncancerous polyps — two of them large — that were removed. The report says an extra 1,000 colon-cancer deaths could be prevented each year if the government’s screening target of 70.5% of the eligible population is met. The CDC said last fall that nearly half of colorectal-cancer cases are diagnosed late, when the disease is harder to treat. A major factor in screening is a physician’s recommendation — without it, people are far less likely to be tested.

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CDC Says Increased Screening Has Helped Cut Colon-Cancer Deaths