Writing in the January/February 2001 issue of CA, Robert Smith, PhD, ACS Director of Screening, and colleagues report that despite ample evidence showing the effectiveness of colorectal cancer screening, as well as excellent survival rates when the disease is detected and treated early, compliance with previous screening guidelines by both U.S. adults and health care providers has been poor. The conclusion reached by an ACS colorectal cancer advisory group was, therefore, to modify previous guidelines in an effort to encourage appropriate use of any colorectal screening technique.

The authors note, "Of primary importance at this time is that clinicians recommend at least one of the appropriate screening options for all of their eligible patients. Evidence demonstrates that when a screening recommendation comes directly from the clinician, compliance with colorectal cancer screening can be quite high."

The article also covers other techniques for early detection of colorectal cancer, such as colonoscopy, which is considered the "gold standard," and double contrast barium enema, and provides updated guidelines on screening for prostate and endometrial cancers, as well as a narrative about early lung cancer detection.

The January/February issue of CA, which launches a new look and size for the journal, also features the ACS’s popular annual cancer statistics report.

CA--A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, published for the American Cancer Society by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, is the most widely circulated cancer journal in the world. It appears six times a year and publishes articles, usually of a review nature, on all aspects of cancer detection, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.

For an interview with any of the authors or an American Cancer Society authority on any of these or other topics, please contact Joann Schellenbach at 212-382-2169.

P.S. The CA Web site can be accessed via the newly redesigned American Cancer Society Web site, www.cancer.org, where it will continue to feature free, full-text versions of all articles that have been published since 1996.

The American Cancer Society is the nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer through research, education, advocacy, and service.

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc., is a global publisher of medical, nursing, and allied health information resources in book, journal, looseleaf, and electronic media formats. The company is a unit of Wolters Kluwer International Health & Science, a group of leading publishing companies offering specialized publications and software in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, science, and related areas.



Joann Schellenbach
National Director Media Relations
American Cancer Society
212-382-2169
jschelle@cancer.org