More than 150,000 Americans will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year. Around the globe, hundreds of thousands more patients will receive the same diagnosis that turned my family's world upside down.

In 1998, my mother was diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer. By the time doctors found it, it was too late. She died nine months later.

Back then, there were few effective treatments to offer patients like her. Thankfully, that's not the case today. A new generation of colorectal cancer treatments is helping patients live longer and better lives.

But progress in colorectal cancer treatment won't continue on its own. It depends on two things: continuing to invest in the breakthroughs we still need, and making sure every patient has access to the tools we already have.

With rates of colorectal cancer on the rise, time is of the essence. Researchers project that by 2040, as many as 3.2 million new cases will be  worldwide. That's up from 1.9 million cases in 2020.

What's particularly worrying is that colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of cancer-related death among people under the age of 50, and cases are continuing to rise in that age group by about 3% every year.

But there is cause for hope. And one major reason is immunotherapy. Before these treatments existed, cancer could evade the immune system. Chemotherapy could attack it, but it poisoned healthy cells, too.

Immunotherapies changed that. The treatments help the body's immune system recognize and attack only cancer cells, sparing healthy cells.

Immunotherapy drugs have been game changers. Even so, only about 5% of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer have tumors that respond well to immunotherapies. That's why it's so critical that policymakers reinforce the incentives that drive research into the next breakthrough, one that could benefit even more patients with colorectal cancer.

Developing new cancer treatments is slow, expensive and uncertain. Nine out of 10 drugs in clinical trials never make it to patients. Policies that blunt incentives to invest in high-risk research, like measures that artificially suppress the prices of drugs, risk slowing the pace of drug development. That could amount to treatments never reaching patients.

Of course, ensuring every patient can afford and access cancer care is imperative. For far too many patients, access to routine screening, timely diagnosis or the latest treatments depends on their ZIP code or socioeconomic status. These gaps are the difference between catching cancer early and catching it too late.

To close those gaps, policymakers must continue to invest in screening programs. We already know that screening saves lives. But that promise means little if people can't access it. Expanding these programs would give more patients the chance to catch cancer early.

Expanding insurance coverage for screening tools, treatments and flexible care is just as important. From eliminating unnecessary insurance barriers to bolstering access to telehealth, policymakers must ensure that patients can readily receive the care they need.

I often think about what might have been possible if my mother had been diagnosed today. And I think about the millions of families still waiting for what comes next. We can't take our progress on colorectal cancer prevention and care for granted.

Andrew Spiegel Esq. is the executive director of the Global Colon Cancer Association.

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