Colon cancer screening based on your life expectancy
Official title: Improving colorectal cancer screening decisions through consideration of life expectancy
Funded at Cleveland Clinic Lerner Com-Cwru · NIH-11252600 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project tries a new way to help doctors and patients decide whether adults over 75 should get colon cancer screening by using estimated life expectancy.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Cleveland Clinic Lerner Com-Cwru NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cleveland, United States) |
| Project start | January 1, 2025 |
| Project end | December 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $695,000 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AG086247-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11252600 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are average-risk adults aged about 76–85 and their clinicians who are weighing whether to continue colorectal cancer screening.
✕Less likely to help
People younger than routine screening age, those at high genetic or medical risk for colorectal cancer, or those with a life expectancy under about 10 years are unlikely to benefit from this approach.
What this research studies
If you're an older adult, researchers will help clinicians use life-expectancy estimates alongside your health and preferences to guide colorectal cancer screening decisions. The project will compare usual care to approaches that give doctors and patients clearer information about expected benefits and harms over the next 10–15 years. Methods likely include working with primary care clinics (cluster randomization), training clinicians, and tracking screening choices and outcomes. The team will look at who gets screened, complications from procedures, and whether decisions match patients' health goals.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could reduce unnecessary colonoscopies for people unlikely to benefit while ensuring healthier older adults who may benefit are offered screening.
How similar studies have gone: Some decision aids and prognostic tools exist for other screening decisions, but using life-expectancy estimates to guide colorectal cancer screening in older adults has limited trial evidence and is still emerging.
Where this research is happening
-
Cleveland Clinic Lerner Com-Cwru
Cleveland, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Martinez, Kathryn Anne — Cleveland Clinic Lerner Com-Cwru
- Study coordinator: Martinez, Kathryn Anne
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
Improving colorectal cancer screening and follow-up care.
This study is working to help more people get screened for colorectal cancer and receive the follow-up care they need, especially those who haven't been screened much before, so that everyone can have better access to important health checks and improve their overall health.
-
Making colorectal cancer screening easier and more likely to happen
This project uses default options, simpler choices, and direct outreach to help average-risk adults who are overdue complete colorectal cancer screening with colonoscopy or stool tests.
-
AI/AN Tailoring of a Home-Based Cervical and Colorectal Cancer Screening Program
A tailored, home-based cancer screening program helps AI/AN adults screen for cervical and colorectal cancer from home using self-collection tests and culturally aligned education.
-
Bringing colorectal cancer screening to adults 45–54 who haven’t been screened
A grant to help low-income adults aged 45–54 start colorectal cancer screening through the Boston area’s community health centers.
-
Increasing follow-up colonoscopies after a positive FIT in community clinics
Aims to help people with abnormal stool tests for colorectal cancer get timely follow-up colonoscopies in safety-net clinics.
-
Colorectal cancer screening with real-time imaging that may replace sedated scopes
Researchers are testing a new imaging method called optical coherence tomography (OCT) to spot and treat colon polyps without the need for sedation during a screening colonoscopy.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.