Tom Murphy
Newswire21.org

About 10,000 lives could be saved in the US each year if more people were screened for breast and colon cancer, the Centers for Disease Control reported Tuesday.

About 63 percent of the older Americans are getting recommended colon screenings, either through costly colonoscopies or simple home test kits, according to the CDC report which was based on a 2008 phone survey of 200,000 people. That's up from 52 percent in 2002.

"It’s encouraging to see more adults getting recommended cancer screenings," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, CDC director. "But we have more to do, especially when it comes to getting more people screened for colorectal cancer, which kills more American non-smokers than any other cancer.

"Tragically, one in three people who should be screened for colorectal cancer have not yet done so, and rates are even lower among Hispanics and blacks," he said.

In 2006, the most recent year for which data was available, 139,000 new cases of colorectal cancer were found and 53,000 people died from it. Screening helps find precancerous polyps and early stage cancers, leading to higher survival rates.

Only 36 percent of uninsured Americans got screened for colorectal cancer, which is the second leading cause of deaths from cancer in the US, next to lung cancer. Screening also tends to follow racial and economic lines. The rates among low-income Americans is 48 percent.

Geographic Differences
Screening rates for colon cancer are highest in the northeast (74 percent) and lowest in rural areas like Oklahoma (53 percent) and Idaho (54 percent).

More than four out of five (81 percent) of women 50-74 have gotten mammograms during the past two years. But the CDC said 7 million women in the age range had no recent test.

About 40,000 women died from breast cancer in 2006, when more than 191,000 were diagnosed. Mammograms are the best way to find the disease when it is easier to treat.

Recent studies found physician recommendations are an important motivator for breast cancer screenings.

Health reform measures that passed through Congress recently are expected to lead to higher levels of screening because they will expand insurance coverage. The report said the existing public health system could also do more to encourage testing.