Persons using assistive technology might not be able to fully access information in this file. For assistance, please send e-mail to: mmwrq@cdc.gov. Type 508 Accommodation and the title of the report in the subject line of e-mail.
National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month --- March 2008
March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. In 2004, a total of 145,083 cases of colorectal cancer
were diagnosed in U.S. adults, and 53,580 adults died from this disease
(1). Although regular colorectal cancer
screening can reduce the incidence of and mortality from this disease,
(2) approximately 40% of U.S. residents who should
be screened for colorectal cancer have not been screened in accordance with national guidelines
(3).
CDC is engaged in a number of activities aimed at colorectal cancer prevention and control, including
conducting behavioral research, monitoring national surveillance data, and supporting educational and screening initiatives.
CDC established a colorectal cancer screening demonstration program in 2005 for low-income and underinsured or
uninsured persons in the United States. CDC also educates the public about the benefits of colorectal cancer
screening through its Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign. Additional information about CDC
colorectal cancer control programs is available at
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/colorectal.
References
US Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States cancer statistics: 2004 incidence and mortality (preliminary data). Atlanta, GA: US
Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, National
Cancer Institute; 2007.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Guide to clinical preventive services, 2005: recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services
Task Force. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2005. AHRQ publication no. 05-0570. Available at
http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/pocketgd05.
Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services.References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are
provided as a service to MMWR readers and do not constitute or imply
endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content
of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
the date of publication.
Disclaimer
All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic conversions from ASCII text
into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors in the HTML version.
Users should not rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the electronic PDF version and/or
the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and tables.
An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents,
U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800.
Contact GPO for current prices.
**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to
mmwrq@cdc.gov.
