(Washington, D.C., Thursday, February 3, 2022) – Urgent and immediate action must be taken to ensure more effective and equitable implementation of cancer screening, according to a new report by the President’s Cancer Panel. The Panel’s report, “Closing Gaps in Cancer Screening: Connecting People, Communities, and Systems to Improve Equity and Access,” finds that too many Americans—particularly those in communities of color and socially/economically-disadvantaged populations—are presenting with more advanced disease at the time of diagnosis, enduring aggressive treatment, or dying from cancers that could have been detected at earlier, more treatable stages.

Additionally, the Panel found that many people do not receive timely, appropriate follow-up care after an abnormal result. The Panel concludes that more effective and equitable implementation of cancer screening can and will save lives and reduce the burden of cancer.

The Panel noted that at one point during the COVID-19 era, the U.S. experienced a 90% reduction of cancer screenings.

The Panel identified four critical goals and related recommendations to ensure the benefits of cancer screening reach all populations:

• Improve and align communication through communications campaigns and expanded National Cancer Roundtables;
• Facilitate equitable access by providing and increasing funding for community-oriented outreach and support, including robust engagement of community health workers and increasing patient access to self-sampling;
• Strengthen workforce collaborations by empowering all members of the healthcare team to support cancer screening and expand access to genetic testing; and
• Create effective health IT to make systems work better for providers and patients by creating computable guidelines and clinical decision support tools.

The President’s Cancer Panel monitors the activities of the National Cancer Program and reports to the President of the United States on barriers to progress in reducing the burden of cancer.

The Panel accomplishes its mission by identifying high-priority topics for which actionable recommendations can be made, convening meetings with key experts and stakeholders to develop an understanding of the problems, challenges, opportunities, and potential solutions and then framing possible recommendations, including actions that should be taken by relevant organizations. Following substantial input, the Panel submits a report to the President of the United States.