Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the United States, with more than 102,000 new patients diagnosed per year. 1 It is, however, one of the few cancers that is highly preventable through the use of routine screening, 2 which can also prevent death resulting from CRC. 3, 4 CRC is also one cancer that continues to demonstrate widening incidence and survival disparities between whites and African Americans. 1, 5 Although the reasons for these disparities are multifactorial, advanced stage at diagnosis may explain up to 50% of the survival disparity. 6

This reality is not unique to CRC. Those who are poor, underserved, or minorities are more likely to get cancer and die as a result of it than those who are rich or white. This is a fact, and it is the current reality of cancer care in the United States, as documented in thousands of peer-reviewed articles, including the focus of an Institute of Medicine report. 6a