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Equitable Access to Innovation

Addressing Persistent Disparities in Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Racially and Ethnically Diverse Populations

Through this work, NEHI sought to propose recommendations that, if adopted, may help to better illuminate and subsequently close disparities in CRC screenings.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in the US. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2023, more than 50,000 people will die from the disease. This figure, while staggering, fails to recognize the continued differences in CRC incidence and mortality that certain populations face. For example, non-Hispanic Black individuals have higher CRC incidence (41.7 per 100,000) and mortality (17.6 per 100,000) than non-Hispanic White individuals (35.7 and 13.1 per 100,000, respectively).1 Moreover, it does little to elevate to what degree disparities in preventive screenings account for these differences.

Timely and consistent screenings are a proven method for lowering CRC incidence and mortality. Early screenings help identify CRC before it has progressed. Moreover, screenings can be preventive in nature: practitioners can remove potentially cancerous polyps found during colonoscopies. Racial disparities in access to CRC screening, however, have persisted for decades. While recent data suggests that gaps are closing, as we will discuss in this report, the data do not present the full picture.

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Additional Contributors

Wendy Warring

Wendy Warring

President and CEO, NEHI

Tom Hubbard

Tom Hubbard

Senior Vice President of Policy Research, NEHI

Project Sponsors

Expert Contributors

Durado Brooks, MD, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for the Screening Business Unit, Exact Sciences

Andi Dwyer, Program Director, Colorado Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network

Beverly B. Green, MD, Ph.D., Senior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute

Freda Lewis Hall, Life Sciences Leader

Lisa Hall, Senior Director of Screening, Colorectal Cancer Alliance

William Lawrence, MD, MS, Senior Clinical Advisor, Office of the Deputy Executive Director for Patient-Centered Research Programs, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)

Amanda Petrik, Ph.D., Health Researcher, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research

Peter H. Schwartz, MD, PhD, Director, Indiana University Center for Bioethics

Claire Cruse, M.P.H

Claire Cruse, M.P.H

Senior Director of Program Development, NEHI

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