Week 1: Advocacy and Early-Onset CRC - 2026 Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

Throughout this year’s Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, we will highlight a new theme each week to focus our collective attention and action.

Week 1 centers on Advocacy, featuring Fight CRC’s key initiatives, including United in Blue, Call on Congress, and important updates on early-onset colorectal cancer.

March 1 / Kick off Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month  -  We’re proud to once again xpartner with Fight CRC for United in Blue Volunteer Day. Our President, Elana Levinson, and Immediate Past President, Beth Dudley Yurkovich, along with Council members Jessica Long and Anu Chittenden, will be in Washington, DC representing CGA-IGC and standing alongside advocates from across the country.   Read our Communication Committee Chair, Michelle Springer’s blog post HERE.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to take part in Fight CRC’s United in Blue initiative. Order your blue flags and display them in your front yard,  or bring one to your workplace to help raise awareness and show your support for those affected by colorectal cancer. Don’t forget to share your Strong Arm Selfies! Throughout the month, snap a photo of yourself, your team, or your colleagues and post it on social media  whether it’s Instagram, X, or another platform  using the hashtag #StrongArmSelfie to show your support and help spread awareness. Don't miss their March toolkit, which includes useful statistics, resources and how you can take action this March! Read it HERE

March 2 / Our Communications Committee member, Alessandro Mannucci, authored an insightful blog post in 2024 titled “Understanding Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer: Challenges and Strategies.” The content remains highly relevant today, and we encourage you to revisit and read it again HERE today.

You may also be familiar with the Delphi Initiative for Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer (DIRECt) guidelines, which were developed to address the rising incidence of CRC in individuals under age 50. These guidelines emphasize immediate risk stratification in younger patients, timely evaluation of symptoms, universal germline genetic testing for all early-onset CRC patients, and proactive discussions around fertility preservation. Learn more about these important recommendations HERE.

March 3 / Our Communications Committee member, Jennifer Fijor, shared her insights on the important research paper, “Rising Incidence of Total and Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer: A Global Perspective on Burden, Risk Factors, and Projections to 2031.”  Check it out HERE.

March 4 /We were thrilled to highlight the patient voice during #ColorectalCancerAwarenessWeek. Mike Caprio, a FAP patient advocate and author, shared his story in a blog "In His Own Words: A Young Patient’s Journey with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP)." and you can read it HERE.

March 5 / Early-onset colorectal cancer is on the rise and this toolkit provides healthcare professionals with educational and clinical practice resources to improve early detection and management of eoCRC in your daily practice.  Thanks to our Education Committee members for reviewing the toolkit. All the new content is at the top of the toolkit. See it HERE.

March 6 / See at a glance the latest trends in chemoprevention, diagnostics, management, and treatment in hereditary colorectal cancer. Revisit this content HERE.

Who doesn’t love an excuse to dress up?!  March 6 is also Dress in Blue Day and the perfect opportunity to show your support for colorectal cancer awareness by wearing blue. Take it a step further, get your team together and snap a #StrongArmSelfie while you’re at it and share it on social media to help spread the message!

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Each week throughout Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, we’ll spotlight a different theme to deepen learning and inspire action. Explore the upcoming weekly themes HERE.

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