Why is screening for colorectal cancer important?

Colorectal cancer is a preventable and highly treatable cancer if caught at an early stage. If you are considered average risk then yearly screening may be right for you. 

Colorectal cancer screening saves lives in two important ways:

1. By finding and removing precancerous polyps before they become cancerous
2. By detecting cancer early when it is most treatable

According to the American Cancer Society’s Colorectal Cancer Facts & Figures 2023–2025 report and associated analyses, colorectal cancer mortality in the United States has been declining for several decades, but recent progress has slowed: during the 2000s, incidence and death rates were dropping by about 3–4% per year, whereas over the past decade mortality has declined by about 2% per year and incidence by about 1% per year, with these improvements concentrated in adults aged 65 and older.