DOWNERS GROVE, IL – The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) hosted its second National Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Screening Summit on September 4 at the ASGE Institute for Training and Technology in Downers Grove, IL.

“Increasing CRC screening and follow-up colonoscopy rates for underserved patients continues to be one of ASGE’s strategic objectives,” says ASGE CRC Screening Project Advisory Council Chair Jennifer Christie, MD, MASGE. “I believe we took another important step to achieve this goal given the suggestions and feedback we received during the summit from some of the nation’s leading gastroenterologists, allied health care professionals and advocacy groups.” 

Dr. Christie points out that the follow-up colonoscopy rate for uninsured patients who have an abnormal stool-based CRC test result is under 50%.

“In addition to presentations on the outcomes of ASGE’s CRC screening projects in Georgia and Maryland, the summit featured excellent talks and panel discussions on  quality metrics, technology, open access colonoscopy programs and blood-based CRC screening tests,” says Pegah Hosseini-Carroll, MD, FASGE, the chair of ASGE CRC Screening Project Advisory Council Summit Work Group. 

She adds that the event also featured a session on ASGE’s CRC Screening Playbook, which is going to be a free, web-based resource that health systems, federally qualified health centers, advocacy organizations and policymakers will be able to use to increase CRC screening and follow-up colonoscopy rates across the US once it goes live in 2026.

“Colorectal cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in men under 50 and the second leading cause of cancer death in women who are under 50, and there’s clear evidence that it is a disease that’s affecting people at an increasingly young age,” says Dr. Christie.

She also stresses that it is crucial for people who have an abnormal CRC test result to get a follow-up colonoscopy in less than 10 months given the higher risk of CRC and advanced stage disease.

“The silver lining,” explains Dr. Christie, “is that CRC has a 90 percent survival rate when it’s detected early enough – which is why ASGE is appealing to every average-risk patient who is 45 or older to get screened for CRC.”

The ASGE CRC Screening Project is being funded with an unrestricted grant from Exact Sciences and additional support from Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and Sebela Pharmaceuticals’ Braintree Laboratories affiliate.

ASGE’s first National CRC Screening Summit took place in 2023.

About the ASGE CRC Screening Project

ASGE is working with Community Health Care Systems (CHCS), a federally qualified health center, and MedChi Network Services (MNS), a subsidiary of the Maryland State Medical Society, on CRC screening and follow-up colonoscopy projects in Georgia and Maryland.

CHCS and MNS are assisting hundreds of uninsured and underinsured patients get screened for CRC using a stool-based DNA test.

CHCS and MedChi are using patient navigation professionals to guide these patients thru the full continuum of care.

The patients who participate in the ASGE CRC Screening Project do not have to pay for this care.