A study conducted by the Harris Poll and Palo Alto, Calif-based Guardant Health asked 1,000 American adults aged 45-84 and 350 physicians what led them to delay or avoid recommended colonoscopy screenings.
Close to a third (29%) of patients cited feeling fear or anxiety about the CRC screening process, an increase from 22% in February 2024, according to a Feb. 28 press release.
Nine out of 10 physicians expressed concern about the high number of patients who do not undergo regular screenings. Currently, over 50 million Americans are not up to date.
Around 82% of gastroenterologists agreed that fear and anxiety were keeping patients from getting screened, up from 67% a year ago.
While CRC is the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S., it is a highly treatable cancer if caught early.
It is recommended that routine screenings begin at 45, and 3 out of 4 patients that die from CRC are not up to date with screenings.
Additionally, while Black patients are 20% more likely to get CRC and 40% more likely to die from it than most other racial and ethnic groups, they are also less likely to get screened than white patients.
One way that physicians are hoping to close the gap is through new, less invasive screening options.
In July, the FDA approved Guardant Health’s Shield blood test, which was found to detect 83% of colorectal cancers, but only 13% of dangerous polyps, in studies.
While colonoscopies are still the gold standard of care, finding approximately 95% of polyps, the majority of gastroenterologists agreed that some form of screening is better than no screening.
Around 93% of physicians and 86% of patients think patients are less likely to delay screenings if they have the option to take a blood test instead of a traditional colonoscopy.
Additionally, 92% of patients said they would be more satisfied with their health if presented with a blood-based CRC test, and 92% also said they would be more likely to get a colonoscopy if they had a positive result on a blood screening.
