July 8, 2016 – Colonoscopy

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Anchor lead: New guidelines add additional choices to colon cancer screening, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Colonoscopy used to be the only method recommended by many authorities for colon cancer screening, but no more.  The United States Preventive Services Task Force has now acknowledged that both fecal immunochemical testing and CT also have a place. Patrick Okolo, director of endoscopy at Johns Hopkins, comments.

Okolo: When you look at the number of lives saved per the number of procedures they really could not find any evidence to distinguish and recommend one test over the other. Their view is that any screening is better than no screening and that people have preferences.  These preferences should be discussed with the individual physician taking care of the patient.  So for the first time they included multitargeted DNA testing along with CT colography.  :26

Okolo says each testing modality has both advantages and disadvantages so a thorough discussion with one’s provider is in order, and all tests will lead to colonoscopy if a precancerous lesion is found.  At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.