| IBS and IBD In The News | |
Sigmoidoscopy Misses Colon Cancers
Onhealth July 20, 2000| Other News | |
Two studies show that cancer and potentially cancerous polyps can elude detection when the colon cancer screening is done by sigmoidoscopy. Published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the results could have an affect on public policy for colon cancer screening.
An analysis of 1,994 colonoscopies on healthy people was conducted at Indiana University in Indianapolis and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The second study involved 3,121 colonoscopies and sigmoidoscopies conducted at 13 U.S. medical centers and reviewed by researchers at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Oregon.
People who had polyps in their lower colon were more likely to have growths higher up on the intestine than people who didn't. Because a colonoscopy can view 3 to 5 feet of the intestine, and a sigmoidoscopy only 18 inches,the colonoscopy is more effective in detecting cancers higher up in the intestine.
Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky wrote an editorial stating that "relying on flexible sigmoidoscopy is as clinically logical as performing mammography of one breast to screen women for breast cancer. It's time to go the distance."
| Featured Links | |
Colonoscopy: The Inside Story
Find out what a colonoscopy is, what does the procedure involve, who performs it, if it's painful, and more.Diagnostic Testing
Links to more information about what to expect when undergoing diagnostic testing such as a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy.
