Women & Colorectal Cancer

The screening guidelines have changed: what you need to know.

For moms who are busy taking care of everyone else, there’s an urge to put yourself last. But when it comes to your health, make your preventive cancer screenings a priority — doing so can save your life.

In 2021, the age recommendation for colorectal cancer screening changed. It is now recommended to begin at age 45 instead of 50.

What brought about the new recommendation? The climbing national rates of colorectal cancer. According to the Oregon Health Authority, the national data is mirrored in Oregon which shows the rate of diagnoses in adults under 50 is rising.

What’s causing the increase isn’t yet clear. “There is no confirmed reason why,” said Oregon Health Authority spokesperson, Erica Heartquist. “It is currently thought to be a combination of unhealthy lifestyle (such as being sedentary, eating low-fiber and high-fat diets or diets high in processed meats, having heavy alcohol intake), environmental factors (such as exposure to toxins, pollutants, and even too many antibiotics) and genetic components.”

Roughly 5% of cases are from inherited gene mutations such as Lynch syndrome. Some races have higher-than-average risks. Heartquist noted that in 2024, the Indian Health Service changed its recommendation for American Indian and Alaskan Native people to begin colorectal cancer screening at age 40 instead of 45.

But genetics aren’t necessarily destiny, and there’s much to be said about what we can do to decrease our risk of colorectal and all other cancers. We’ve heard it all before, but a healthy diet and recommended exercise are at the core of prevention. Nicotine and alcohol are factors, so no more rosé all day and don’t get started with vaping. Eat more whole grains, vegetables and fruit. It helps to remember that your good habits become your children’s good habits.

Talk to your doctor about your family health history and personal risk for colorectal cancer. Anyone with symptoms like unusual bleeding and changes in bowel habits should consider screening, even if you do not meet the age recommendation.

For people of average risk, there are take-home kits that detect blood in the stool. While at-home kits are convenient, the gold standard is a colonoscopy screening which involves sedation and some advanced planning and prep. “It is widely said that the best kind of colorectal cancer screening is the one that gets done,” said Heartquist.

How often you get a colonoscopy is based on your personal health: it might be five years, or 10, or even more frequently.

Finding and treating cancer early is crucial to survival. If you’re not yet of age for screening, put it on your mental calendar, and if you’ve already reached this milestone, ask your primary care provider to get your referral in motion. And tell the men in your life they need to get screened too; in fact, colorectal cancers are more deadly in men than women.

“Colorectal cancer often doesn’t cause symptoms until it’s in a later stage, so it’s important to get tested before symptoms start,” said Heartquist. “The more of us moms who get screened and talk about our experience, the easier it will become to make colorectal cancer screening a normal part of what we all do to stay healthy — and present for our families.”

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Sources: American Cancer Society; Centers for Disease and Control; MD Anderson Cancer Centers; Oregon Health Authority; UCLA Health; US Preventive Services Task Force; Yale Medicine