'Hotspots' for Fatal Colorectal Cancer ID'd in Southeast U.S.

Three distinct areas in the U.S., all in the southeast, have been identified where mortality rates from colorectal cancer (CRC) are significantly higher than they are for the rest of the country and suggest these areas in particular need to be targeted for screening interventions, new research shows. Analysis of CRC death data from 1970 through to 2011 for all counties in the U.S. pinpointed three hotspots for high and increasing mortality: the Lower Mississippi Delta, west central Appalachia, and eastern North Carolina/Virginia. Elsewhere in the U.S., mortality from CRC has generally fallen over time.