# US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation: colorectal cancer screening from age 45

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-uspstf-crc-screening-45-jama-2021/  
OnCo record `paper-uspstf-crc-screening-45-jama-2021` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

In 2021 the US Preventive Services Task Force lowered the recommended age to start colorectal cancer screening from 50 to 45 for average-risk adults, in response to rising rates in younger people.

## Summary

Recommendation statement based on systematic review and modelling concluding with moderate certainty that screening adults aged 45 to 49 has moderate net benefit (B recommendation), continuing the A recommendation for ages 50 to 75, with a range of acceptable tests including colonoscopy, faecal immunochemical testing, stool DNA testing and CT colonography.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-17
- Journal: JAMA
- Year: 2021
- DOI: 10.1001/jama.2021.6238
- Authors: US Preventive Services Task Force, Davidson KW, Barry MJ, et al.
- What it means: Screening from 45 is now standard in the United States and has been adopted or debated elsewhere; it is the main policy response to early-onset colorectal cancer.
- Caveats: Modelling-based; uptake in the 45 to 49 group has been slow.; Benefit for those under 45 remains unaddressed.

## Sources

- JAMA 2021: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.6238
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34003218/

## Connected records

- cancers: [Early-onset colorectal cancer (under 50)](https://onco.cc/cancers/early-onset-colorectal/)
- journals: [JAMA](https://onco.cc/journals/jama/)

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