How often you need colorectal cancer screening depends on your age, your health, and other risk factors. Your care team is the best person to set your schedule. Screening tests look for signs of disease before you have any symptoms. This can help find cancer early, when it may be easier to treat. The types of screening tests include stool tests and procedures such as a colonoscopy and a flexible sigmoidoscopy. A colonoscopy uses a scope, a long, thin tube with a light and a tiny camera, to look at your entire colon and rectum. A flexible sigmoidoscopy is similar, but it checks only the rectum and the lower part of the colon. During a colonoscopy, a doctor can also find growths called polyps. Some polyps can turn into cancer over time, so doctors remove and test them. Having polyps removed before they become cancerous is one way screening can help prevent colorectal cancer. Which test you need, and how often, depends on things like your age and family history. Talk with your care team about how often you need screening and what type of test is right for you.