The American Cancer Society’s new Get Screened campaign goal is to encourage all adults age 25 and older to resume appropriate cancer screening and follow-up care. More than 1 in 3 people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. This important campaign seeks to help individuals catch cancer early when it’s easiest to treat. Early detection of cancer through screening reduces mortality from cancers of the colon and rectum, breast, uterine cervix and lung.
Recommended cancer screenings vary according to age:
· Age 25–39 Screening recommendations:
o Cervical cancer screening recommended for people with a cervix beginning at age 25.
· Age 40–49 Screening recommendations:
· Breast cancer screening recommended beginning at age 45, with the option to begin at age 40.
· Cervical cancer screening recommended for people with a cervix.
· Colorectal cancer screening recommended for everyone beginning at age 45.
· At age 45, African Americans should discuss prostate cancer screening with a doctor.
Age 50+ Screening Recommendations:
o Breast cancer screening recommended.
o Cervical cancer screening recommended.
o Colorectal cancer screening recommended.
o People who currently smoke or formerly smoked should discuss lung cancer screening with a doctor.
o Discussing prostate cancer screening with a doctor is recommended.
The American Cancer Society hosts a number of events each year to celebrate cancer survivorship and educate people about steps they can take to reduce their risk of cancer. Upcoming events include the following:
· Making Strides Against Breast Cancer events in Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange County and throughout the country. For details, visit MakingStridesWalk.org/Ventura.
· Relay For Life events in Ventura, Los Angeles and throughout the country in the summer and fall. For details, visit RelayForLife.org.
· Great American Smokeout is an annual intervention event on the third Thursday of November by the American Cancer Society. Approximately 40 million American adults still smoke, and tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the country.
· Information and free resources are available through the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Information Service with live operators at 1.800.227.2345 or at Cancer.org anytime.
With the support of the Get Screened campaign’s founding sponsor, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, ACS will lead a comprehensive and multisector movement to dramatically and swiftly increase cancer screening rates to pre-pandemic levels and beyond. This will include convening a consortium of public health groups, professional organizations, patient advocacy groups, existing roundtables, businesses, government and key individual leaders to improve screening rates for breast, cervical, colorectal and lung cancers.
The Get Screened initiative will also support the development of regional and local consortia, materials for health care systems to utilize in improving screening rates and state-based interventions to improve health equity in under-resourced communities. Pandemic-related disruptions have already exacerbated existing disparities in cancer screening and are likely to impact survival across groups of people who have systemically experienced social or economic obstacles to screening and care. These disparities are especially pronounced in Black and Latino communities, where cancer mortality rates for many cancers are highest.
“We’re at a unique moment in history in the fight against cancer. What we do right now to combat the staggering declines in cancer screening rates that we’ve seen over the past year will have reverberations for decades to come,” said Deb Jeffers of the American Cancer Society in Ventura County. “To successfully meet, and even exceed, pre-pandemic screening rates will take a coordinated, multisector approach. We are so grateful to our partners, including our founding sponsor Genentech, for collaborating on an initiative that’s big enough and bold enough to return people to screening.”
Due to delays in screening for breast, cervical, colorectal and lung cancers, many cancers could be going undiagnosed and untreated and may advance to later stages, which become harder to treat. ACS foresees that the pandemic-related reductions in health care access and cancer screening will result in a short-term drop in cancer diagnoses and a later corresponding increase in late-state diagnoses and potentially preventable deaths.
About the American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is a global grassroots force of 1.5 million volunteers dedicated to saving lives, celebrating lives, and leading the fight for a world without cancer. From breakthrough research to free lodging near treatment, a 24/7/365 live helpline, free rides to treatment and convening powerful activists to create awareness and impact, the Society is attacking cancer from every angle. For more information, visit Cancer.org.
