Colorectal cancer control: providing adequate care to those who need it.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a notable cause of death and an extremely important tumor in cancer control efforts. There have been tremendous declines in CRC incidence and mortality because of the effectiveness of screening and treatment. Indeed at a time when there is tremendous debate about screening for many cancers, there is no debate that CRC screening and treatment are preventing many deaths (1). Although there has been success in CRC control, it is a disease in which there are tremendous disparities among populations. That is to say, many more CRC deaths can be averted, and central to the control of CRC is reducing disparities. Any effort to reduce disparities requires providing high-quality screening, diagnosis, and treatment to the entire population as efficiently as possible. Indeed, an important and vital question for society is, “How can we get adequate high-quality care to include preventive services to those who do not receive it?” In this issue of the Journal, a group of distinguished experts in colon cancer and health disparities provide a blueprint for the further control of CRC (2). Gupta et al. advocate the following: