WEO Coalition to Reduce Inequities in Colorectal Cancer Screening

Worldwide, inequities in participation in colorectal cancer screening have been observed based on socioeconomic status, education, race, ethnicity, and other factors. The purpose of our Expert Working Group is to provide a forum for gastroenterologists, primary care physicians, experts in health behavior change, epidemiologists, and industry representatives to share their expertise with public health and research strategies for addressing inequities in screening.

In 2014, our group published a comprehensive commentary on inequities in screening across populations in the United States in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, “Challenges and possible solutions to colorectal cancer screening for the underserved,” available at: http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/03/27/jnci.dju032.full?keytype=ref&ijkey=nbM7HdoELpYYokq

In January 2017, the article “Socioeconomic and ethnic inequities within organised colorectal cancer screening programmes worldwide” by Drs de Klerk, Gupta, Dekker and Essink-Bot on behalf of the WEO CRC SC Expert Working Group ‘Coalition to reduce inequities in colorectal cancer screening’, was published in GUT, and is available at: http://gut.bmj.com/content/early/2017/01/23/gutjnl-2016-313311

In addition, and for further interest to the Expert Working Group, a publication on “Interventions to ensure follow-up of positive fecal immunochemical tests” by Drs Selby, Senore, Wong, May, Gupta and Liang was published in February 2020 and is freely available in the National Library of Medicine. Colon cancer screening programmes often report problems in ensuring adequate follow-up of positive fecal immunochemical tests (FITs). This paper examined strategies implemented by ongoing screening programes to improve the follow-up of FIT-positive participants, and examined links between interventions and reported follow-up rates. To access the full publication, please see here.