City-Wide Effort Boosts NYC’s Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates

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A coalition formed by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) resulted in a 40% increases in colorectal screening rates over four years. The program is now being looked at as a possible pilot for other communities to boost their cancer screening rates.

A report headed by Dr. Steven Itzkowitz, a professor of medicine/oncological sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), now provides a framework for how communities might learn from a program to increase screening rates and ensure equal access based on race and ethnicity.

“The increased screening rates from 2003 to 2012 translates to an additional 833,000 New Yorkers who have undergone screening colonoscopy and represents an important public health intervention,” said Dr. Itzkowitz. “By making screening accessible and providing high quality screenings, we can reduce the incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer in men and women.”

Colonoscopies are one of the most effective reducers of colorectal cancer, both incidence and mortality. There is now a national campaign to increase colorectal cancer screenings by 80% by the year 2018. In 2014, the screening rate reached 70%.

“We know that routine colorectal screenings save lives, and we continue to educate the public of the importance of this,” said Lina Jandorf, co-author of the report and professor of oncological services at ISMMS. “Thanks to our efforts, screening rates have dramatically increased and lives have been saved.”