Key Points:
- There’s an alarming increase in colorectal cancer among younger Americans, with projections showing a surge of more than 140% by 2030. Early detection and screening are critical to managing this growing threat.
- Recent advancements suggest that blood tests can detect early stages of colorectal cancer. While they offer greater accessibility and convenience compared to colonoscopies, they primarily focus on detection rather than prevention.
- These tests can indicate the presence of cancer but cannot remove precancerous polyps like colonoscopies can. There’s also uncertainty about their effectiveness in younger populations due to the biological mechanisms they rely on, such as methylation patterns.
- Despite the development of blood tests, colonoscopies remain the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening due to their ability to both detect and prevent cancer by removing polyps before they turn cancerous.