The ongoing University of Colorado Cancer Center program to distribute free, home-use colorectal cancer screening kits is finding new ways to get kits to Coloradans who need them.
The “FIT for Life” program – organized by the CU Cancer Center’s Office of Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) – distributes fecal immunochemical tests (FIT), targeting uninsured people in Colorado ages 45 to 75.
FIT is a type of stool-based screening test that detects occult (hidden) blood in the stool, a possible sign of colorectal cancer or precancerous conditions. The user collects a stool sample and then sends it to a lab in packaging supplied with the kit.
Unlike a colonoscopy, which is a procedure performed at a clinic, a FIT test can be administered at home, and it doesn’t require a special diet or preparation beforehand.
In past years, COE focused on distributing FIT kits in person, handing them out at health fairs and community events scattered around the state. This year, the “FIT for Life” distribution program is branching out to include an online ordering system for the tests, says Jan Lowery, PhD, MPH, assistant director for dissemination and implementation for the CU Cancer Center’s Office of COE.
“We’re hoping that folks who request the kits online will be more motivated to do the test,” Lowery says.
→ Everything You Wanted to Know About Colonoscopy Prep (But Were Afraid to Ask)
Highly curable when diagnosed early
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, spotlighting a disease that is the No. 2 cause of cancer death in the United States, and No. 1 among men under age 50. Colorectal cancer is the term for both cancer of the colon (large intestine) and of the rectum (the end portion of the large intestine).
The American Cancer Society projects 154,270 new colorectal cancer cases in 2025 across the U.S., 2,130 of them in Colorado. The ACS also forecasts 52,900 colorectal cancer deaths nationwide this year, and 750 in Colorado.
Yet colorectal cancer is preventable and highly curable when diagnosed and treated early – and that’s why regular screening is recommended for people at average risk between the ages of 45 and 75.
According to the National Cancer Institute, in 2021, an estimated 72% of U.S. adults between ages 50 and 75 were up to date with some form of colorectal cancer screening, but that rate was lower for Hispanic adults (63%), lower-income people (61%) and people with less than a high school education (57%).
In Colorado, colorectal cancer screening rates are lowest – 59% or less – in largely rural counties in southern and northeastern areas of the state as well as in some urban counties, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
→ ‘These Are Things You’ve Got to Talk About’: How Cancer Impacts Hispanic Coloradans
A hybrid distribution system
The aim of “FIT for Life” is to improve the rate of screening across Colorado, particularly among underserved groups with lower screening rates than others, Lowery says.
In 2023, COE distributed FIT kits in person at 35 health fairs that were organized by the nonprofit 365 Health, formerly 9Health Fair. But 365 Health shut down in September 2023, so in 2024, COE distributed through community health fairs and other events statewide.
Now, says Lowery, COE has pivoted to a hybrid system of online ordering coupled with in-person distribution at a smaller number of locations than before, mostly in remote areas.
The program also is being promoted in print and through social media. To date, 28 announcements have been submitted to local publications in rural Colorado counties with low screening rates or high colorectal cancer incidence rates, or both, says Daniel Pacheco, MBA, COE’s program manager.
→ Colonoscopy vs. Stool-Based Tests: What is the Best Way to Detect Colorectal Cancer?
Kits come in the mail
The free FIT kits can be ordered here. They are available to any uninsured or underinsured person between ages 45 to 75 who has not had either a FIT test in the last year, or a Cologuard test – another type of at-home screening test – in the past three years, or a colonoscopy screening in the past 10 years. For those who have insurance, the cost of colorectal cancer screening is generally covered.
“You fill out the online request form,” Lowery says. “If you’re eligible, we’ll give you a call back to confirm your information. Then we’ll send you a test kit in the mail.”
The kits arrive in one to three weeks. Instructions on using FIT are included in the kit. “You do the test at home, then put in the mail and send it to the lab,” Lowery says.
Whether the test result is positive or negative, a COE staff member will call back participants to discuss the results, she says. “If it’s a positive finding, we’ll ask you if you need help getting a follow-up colonoscopy.”
→ More CU Cancer Center stories on colorectal cancer
Hundreds of kits distributed
Christopher Lieu, MD, the CU Cancer Center’s associate director for clinical research and an associate professor of medical oncology, says that if a FIT test is positive, “it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have cancer. There are plenty of other reasons for blood to be detected in the stool, the most common of which being plain old hemorrhoids. If it’s positive, it means we should move on to a more reliable test.”
In patients with colorectal cancer, a FIT kit will accurately detect the cancer about 80% of the time versus a 99% accuracy rate for a colonoscopy.
As of early March, the “FIT for Life” initiative has distributed 862 FIT kits, 201 of those kits were used and returned, and 28 tested positive. According to Pacheco, 14 of the participants who tested positive received a colonoscopy paid for by the Colon Cancer Coalition.
COE is also offering an online ordering portal to distribute free home radon testing kits to Colorado residents who need financial assistance. Radon, a naturally forming radioactive gas that can seep into homes and buildings from the ground, is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. and the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers.
Photo at top: Jan Lowery, PhD, MPH (left), in a meeting with Evelinn Borrayo, PhD, associate director of the CU Cancer Center's Office of Community Outreach and Engagement.
