American College of Gastroenterology Guidelines for Colorectal Cancer Screening 2008

TLDR

The 2008 ACG guidelines update CRC screening recommendations, emphasizing colonoscopy every 10 years from age 50 as preferred, while acknowledging limited availability and patient reluctance. When colonoscopy is unavailable or declined, patients should be offered flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5–10 years, CT colonography every 5 years, or fecal immunochemical testing.

Abstract

This document is the first update of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) colorectal cancer (CRC) screening recommendations since 2000. The CRC screening tests are now grouped into cancer prevention tests and cancer detection tests. Colonoscopy every 10 years, beginning at age 50, remains the preferred CRC screening strategy. It is recognized that colonoscopy is not available in every clinical setting because of economic limitations. It is also realized that not all eligible persons are willing to undergo colonoscopy for screening purposes. In these cases, patients should be offered an alternative CRC prevention test (flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5-10 years, or a computed tomography (CT) colonography every 5 years) or a cancer detection test (fecal immunochemical test for blood, FIT).