New NCCRT 80% in Every Community Brief for Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalitions

Comprehensive cancer control (CCC) programs and coalitions play a critical role in promoting colorectal cancer screening messages and activities in community settings across the United States. The newly released brief, What Can Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalitions Do to Advance 80% in Every Community?, contains useful information and resources that will accelerate efforts to improve screening rates in your state, tribal organization, or territory.

The American Cancer Society Releases Guidance on Effectively Messaging Cancer Screening During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Late last month the American Cancer Society released the 2021 Messaging Guidebook: Effectively Messaging Cancer Screening During the COVID-19 Pandemic, which includes information on both old and new barriers to cancer screening, delivers updated findings on how the pandemic has impacted cancer care, and shares tested messages that will resonate throughout the pandemic. A companion brief and additional communications assets are also included to support your organization’s return to cancer screening outreach efforts.

This work builds on the ACS Guidance on Cancer Screening During COVID-19, released in October 2020, which provides guidance on how public health agencies, health care providers, and screening advocates across the nation can promote and deliver cancer screening appropriately, safely, and equitably during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reminder: Register for our Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month Webcast on March 16!

We hope you will join us on March 16 at 3:00 PM ET for our annual Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month webcast. Hear from Richard Wender, MD, and Robert Smith, PhD, NCCRT co-chairs; Lisa Richardson, MD, MPH, Director of CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control; Rebecca Siegel, MPH, Senior Scientific Director, Surveillance Research, American Cancer Society; Folasade May, MD, PhD, MPhil, UCLA Health, our 2021 80% in Every Community National Achievement Awards grand prize honoree; and other special guests.

Ways to get engaged:

1. Send us a picture of you dressed in blue for colorectal cancer awareness! Email your photo to [email protected] by March 12th to be included in a photo montage during the webcast.
2. Connect with us on social media! Follow #80inEveryCommunity on Twitter and follow our Facebook page.
3. Spread the word! Share the link to register with your colleagues and partners.
4. Join us. Learn how you can join the shared goal to reach 80% in Every Community.

Partner Events this March

Below are just a few of the exciting events that partner organizations are hosting this March. Share your event using #80inEveryCommunity or tag @NCCRTnews and we’ll be sure to share!

• Throughout the month, the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium and the Blue Hat Foundation are teaming up to increase awareness of the importance of colorectal cancer screening through the Screening Madness event in which participants pledge to get screened and compete to get the most pledges for their Big Ten team.
• Fight Colorectal Cancer is hosting its annual Call on Congress kick-off as a virtual event on March 15 from 7:00-9:00 PM ET with Hill Days scheduled in June.
• The American Cancer Society South Region is hosting a free CME/CNE webinar on March 16th at 1:00 PM ET, Resuming Colorectal Cancer Screening During a Pandemic: Best Practices and Recommendations. Healthcare professionals from any region are invited to participate.
• The newly formed Association of Black Gastroenterologists and Hepatologists is hosting its inaugural community event on March 23rd from 8:00-9:00 PM ET: ABGH Roundtable Series: Colorectal Cancer in the COVID-19 Era, a discussion on how to prevent, treat and beat colorectal cancer in the Black community in the COVID-19 era.
• The American Indian Cancer Foundation, an NCCRT member, is hosting the third annual Blue Beads Day on March 24th. From AICAF: Blue Beads Day is a national colorectal cancer awareness campaign for our families across Indian Country. Our team invites Native people of all ages to join us by wearing blue beadwork or clothing, and sharing photos on social media using the hashtag #BlueBeadsDay to raise awareness of CRC screening.

Relevant Journal Articles, Publications, & Other News

• In late February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released An Update on Cancer Deaths in the United States.
• Medicare loophole for screening colonoscopies is fixed — What does this mean for patients?describes how “After nearly a decade of tireless advocacy from our organizations’ staff and volunteers, the Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act, nicknamed the “Medicare Loophole” bill, finally made it across the finish line.”
• Framework and Strategies to Eliminate Disparities in Colorectal Cancer Screening Outcomesevaluates strategies to eliminate preventable differences in colorectal cancer mortality across racial/ethnic, economic, geographic, and other groups.
• Specificity of the Multi-Target Stool DNA Test for Colorectal Cancer Screening in Average-Risk 45–49 Year-Olds: A Cross-Sectional Study shares findings on the specificity of the multitarget stool DNA (mt-sDNA) test in an average-risk screening population of 45 to 49 year-olds.