National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month 2026
Turn screening eligibility into completed tests, diagnostic resolution, and equitable follow-up.
A screening program is only finished when the result is resolved.
Colorectal cancer remains one of the largest cancer burdens health systems manage. NCI’s SEER program estimates 158,850 new cases and 55,230 deaths from colorectal cancer in the United States in 2026, accounting for 7.5% of all new cancer cases. Much of that burden sits in the gap between people who are eligible for screening and people who actually complete it and resolve any abnormal result.
The eligibility rules are clear. The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening adults aged 50 to 75 (grade A) and 45 to 49 (grade B), with selective screening from 76 to 85 (grade C). CDC reflects the same 45-to-75 range and lists multiple test options and intervals, from annual stool-based tests to colonoscopy every 10 years. Offering choice is valuable, but each option creates its own follow-up obligation.
The most important obligation is diagnostic resolution. USPSTF states that abnormal results from stool-based tests, CT colonography, and flexible sigmoidoscopy should be followed up with colonoscopy to achieve the benefits of screening, and CDC states that colonoscopy is needed to complete the screening process after a positive result. A positive stool test without a timely colonoscopy is an open safety loop, not a completed screen.
For executives, this means managing screening as a pathway rather than a test count. Outreach must reach eligible people; kits must be returned and resulted; abnormal results must trigger scheduled colonoscopy with navigation, bowel preparation support, and transportation where needed; and results must reach both the person and primary care. Equity reviews should check where each of those steps fails most often and for whom.
Measure and close the loop from every abnormal stool-based screening result to a completed follow-up colonoscopy, with named navigation ownership.
NCI’s SEER program estimates 158,850 new colorectal cancer cases in the United States in 2026.
SEER estimates 55,230 deaths from colorectal cancer in the United States in 2026.
The USPSTF recommends colorectal cancer screening for adults aged 45 to 75, with individualized decisions from 76 to 85.
Figures are summarized from the authoritative sources linked below. Definitions and denominators should be read with each source.
Run screening as one continuous route.
Each step below has a handoff where people are commonly lost.
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Identify and reach
Use registries to identify eligible people who are not up to date and offer screening through multiple channels.
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Complete the test
Track kit return, colonoscopy completion, and resulting so no test goes missing.
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Resolve abnormal results
Schedule follow-up colonoscopy after any abnormal stool-based, CT colonography, or sigmoidoscopy result, with navigation.
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Communicate and follow up
Return results to the person and primary care and set the next screening or surveillance interval.
Reliability rule: Every abnormal screening result should have a named owner until follow-up colonoscopy is completed or a documented decision is made.
Measure completion and resolution, not only outreach.
These instruments are local management prompts; clinical intervals follow the organization’s own protocols.
Up-to-date screening
Track the share of eligible patients aged 45 to 75 who are up to date with screening.
Kit completion
Track whether mailed or distributed stool-based kits are returned and resulted.
Follow-up colonoscopy
Track the interval from an abnormal stool-based result to completed colonoscopy.
Equity gaps
Track screening and follow-up completion by demographic, language, payer, and geographic groups.
Close the handoffs that leave results unresolved.
Most failures in colorectal screening happen between teams.
From primary care to screening completion
- Offer screening options and document the person’s choice.
- Send kits or colonoscopy referrals with clear instructions.
- Track return and remind people who have not completed the test.
From abnormal result to gastroenterology
- Notify the person and primary care of the abnormal result.
- Place and schedule the colonoscopy referral with navigation.
- Address bowel preparation, transportation, and cost questions.
From colonoscopy to ongoing care
- Return findings and pathology to the person and primary care.
- Set the surveillance or next screening interval.
- Route any cancer diagnosis to oncology promptly.
Navigation is most valuable at the second lane, where an abnormal result must become a completed colonoscopy.
Four questions for the board and cancer committee.
A short scorecard keeps the full screening pathway in view.
| Signal | Executive question | Accountable owner | Review cadence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coverage | What share of eligible patients are up to date with screening? | Primary care and population health leaders | Monthly |
| Completion | Are distributed kits and scheduled colonoscopies being completed? | Population health and endoscopy leaders | Monthly |
| Resolution | Do abnormal stool-based results lead to timely follow-up colonoscopy? | Gastroenterology and navigation leaders | Monthly |
| Equity | Which groups have the largest gaps in screening and follow-up? | Health equity leader | Quarterly |
Launch a 90-day loop-closure sprint in March.
National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month is a visible anchor for focused improvement.
Start with the list of patients who have an abnormal stool-based result and no completed colonoscopy. Assign navigation to that list first. Then address kit return and outreach. Report loop-closure progress to leadership at the end of the cycle.
Days 1–30: Find the open loops
- Build a registry of abnormal stool-based results without completed colonoscopy.
- Pull baseline up-to-date and kit-return rates.
- Name an executive sponsor and a navigation lead.
Days 31–60: Navigate
- Contact every person on the open-loop list.
- Reserve endoscopy capacity for follow-up colonoscopy.
- Offer bowel preparation, language, and transportation support.
Days 61–90: Report
- Report follow-up colonoscopy completion and intervals.
- Stratify results by equity groups.
- Set the next quarter’s targets and owners.
Eligibility is the start; resolution is the goal.
National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month 2026 is an opportunity to measure not only who is offered screening but who completes it and resolves an abnormal result.
Turn National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month into accountable action.
Turn screening eligibility into completed tests, diagnostic resolution, and equitable follow-up.
Leadership focus
Turn screening eligibility into completed tests, diagnostic resolution, and equitable follow-up.
Workforce lens
Brief primary care, population health, endoscopy, and navigation teams on the open-loop registry and follow-up colonoscopy measures.
Patient and community lens
Explain screening choices clearly and make sure people understand that an abnormal stool-based result needs a follow-up colonoscopy.
Equity and access lens
Stratify screening, kit return, and follow-up colonoscopy completion by race, ethnicity, language, payer, and geography.
Inspect the operating sequence
USPSTF recommends colorectal cancer screening for adults aged 45 to 75, and abnormal stool-based results should be followed by colonoscopy. SEER estimates 158,850 new cases in 2026. This month we will focus on closing every open follow-up loop.
- 01Identify and reach
- 02Complete the test
- 03Resolve abnormal results
- 04Communicate and follow up
Leadership actions for this week
- Name an executive sponsor and frontline operating owner.
- Ask people using and operating the pathway where ownership becomes unclear.
- Test one representative route from first question to acknowledged next step.
- Select one barrier that can be corrected without overstating the evidence.
- Set a review date and define how completion will be verified.
Candidate measures
Define every numerator, denominator where relevant, owner, data source, exclusions, cadence, and limitation locally. These are management prompts, not external benchmarks.
- Share of eligible attributed patients up to date with colorectal cancer screening
- Share of distributed stool-based kits returned and resulted
- Median and 90th-percentile days from abnormal stool-based result to completed colonoscopy
Department readiness checklist
- The public and staff entry points match the actual approved process.
- A specific role accepts each request, referral, or escalation.
- Handoffs include acknowledgment and a visible unresolved state.
- Language, disability, digital, transportation, and trust barriers receive explicit review.
- Communications do not introduce unsupported themes, statistics, or clinical advice.
- A named leader will review what changed after the observance.
Intended audiences
- Executive and Operational Leaders
- Patient Experience and Access Leaders
Staff communication template
During National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, our organization will focus on completing screening and following up every abnormal result with colonoscopy. Please help us identify patients who are due or have an open result.
Community communication template
March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Adults aged 45 to 75 are encouraged to talk with their healthcare provider about colorectal cancer screening options.
Measurement worksheet
- Signal
- What observable condition will show whether the route works?
- Definition
- What is included, excluded, and counted?
- Owner
- Who reviews the signal and acts on exceptions?
- Cadence
- When will leaders review it?
- Equity check
- Which differences require protected, locally appropriate review?
- Closure
- What evidence will confirm the improvement was completed?
Authoritative resources
- Colorectal Cancer: Screening, US Preventive Services Task Force
- Screening for Colorectal Cancer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Cancer Stat Facts: Colorectal Cancer, National Cancer Institute SEER Program
Safety note: CDC lists possible colorectal cancer symptoms, including a change in bowel habits, blood in or on the stool, abdominal pain that does not go away, unexplained weight loss, and anemia, and advises people with any of these symptoms to talk to their doctor.
Verification note: No official 2026 theme was verified for National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month; the March calendar date is retained as given. Figures come from USPSTF (2021 recommendation), CDC, and NCI SEER 2026 estimates.