Gains in colorectal cancer outcomes slowing, reversing

Decreases in colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnoses and deaths among adults in their 50s and 60s have slowed compared with previous decades, according to a study recently published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Caitlin C. Murphy, Ph.D., M.P.H., from University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, and colleagues used the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data to analyze temporal trends in CRC incidence and mortality by five-year age group (age 30 to ≥85 years), as well as trends in relative survival, during a 28-year period (1992 to 2019).

The researchers found that incidence rates initially decreased for persons aged 60 to 64 years to age 70 to 74 years, but starting in approximately 2011, rates plateaued or decreased more gradually. However, incidence rates consistently increased from age 30 to 34 years to age 50 to 54 years.

Some differences were seen for non-White race and ethnicity. There were large declines in mortality observed through the mid-2000s, but then rates began to decrease more gradually for ages 55 to 59 years to 65 to 69 years. Mortality patterns differed by race and ethnicity. Five-year relative survival increased annually by 0.55 percent from 1992 to 2005 across all age groups but thereafter remained unchanged (annual percentage change, 0.04).

"Lower participation in CRC screening among adults in their 50s and 60s may partially explain our findings," the authors write.

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical and health technology industries.

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