Exact Sciences, a leading provider of cancer screening and diagnostic tests, announced today that it awarded a total of $1.5 million to 28 organizations through its Funding Opportunities for CRC Screening Uptake Strategies (FOCUS) Program. Grant recipients are committed to improving colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates and making health care more accessible, with a focus on medically underserved populations.
CRC is one of the most preventable and treatable cancers if caught in early stages.1,2 Yet an estimated 60 million average-risk adults remain unscreened in the United States,3 which is one reason more than 50,000 people die from this disease each year in the U.S. alone.4 In part because of low screening rates, CRC remains the second-leading cause of cancer death in this country.1
Nearly half of premature CRC deaths are related to racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic inequalities.5 The most vulnerable patient populations often go unscreened for CRC,4 which is one reason these communities are up to 11% more likely to be diagnosed with CRC in later stages,6 when the disease is less treatable.
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