The State of Colorectal Cancer Screening and Prevention

C3 President Carlea Bauman at the National Press Club

Today, C3 hosted a forum with Olympus in Washington DC to discuss current trends in colorectal cancer screening and prevention.

C3 President, Carlea Bauman, gave keynote remarks at the forum.  Carlea spoke about the frustration that we face at C3 when we receive calls to our Answer Line from individuals looking for assistance finding affordable screening services and we only have a patch-work network of assistance available to them.  Carlea explained that the way to change this is with enactment of a national screening and treatment program, “I look forward to the day where a national program exists so that when these calls come in, we can say, ‘Yes, you can get screened and yes, you can afford it.’”

I spoke on one of the panels about the impact the pending health care reform legislation will have on colorectal screening and why even if health care reform passes we will still need to enact legislation creating a national screening and treatment program for colorectal cancer.  To read the text of my remarks, click here.

Other speakers at today’s forum included:

• Dr. David Johnson, MD, Professor of Medicine and Chief of Gastroenterology, Eastern Virginia Medical School
• Dr. Douglas Rex, MD, Director of Endoscopy at Indiana University Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine
• Mr. David Woodmansee, Senior Specialist for State and Local Campaigns, Colorectal Cancer Screening Programs, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
• Dr. Gregory Ginsberg, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of Endoscopy, University of Pennsylvania Health System
• Dr. Laura Seeff, MD, Associate Director of Colorectal Cancer Programs, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Dr. Ronald Myers, PhD, Director of the Kimmel Cancer Center and Professor of Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University
• Dr. Patrick Okolo, MD, Chief of Endoscopy, Johns Hopkins Hospital

The panelists provided an overview of where the nation is regarding colorectal cancer screening.  They discussed the role of insurance in screening rates and the difference between states with and without mandates.  They provided an overview of current guidelines and the strong evidence for screening as well as discussing the importance of quality in screening services.

Dr. Seeff with the CDC gave an overview of the CDC’s Screen for Life and Colorectal Cancer Control Programs.  She and the other panelists also discussed the lack of screening access for underserved populations and potential solutions.

Speakers also discussed the current and projected colorectal cancer screening capacity.  In addition, panelists discussed how adherence to guidelines and improving patient follow through are critical for doctors.

As soon as it is available, we will be posting video of today’s forum so that you can listen to the discussion from all of the panelists about the current state of colorectal cancer screening and prevention.