Big Drop in Colon Cancer Attributed to Colonoscopy

WebMD Health News by Rita Rubin

Oct. 23, 2012 -- Wider use of colonoscopy has led to a more dramatic decline in colorectal cancer rates, a new study suggests.

Colorectal cancer cases and deaths have been falling for decades, with the most recent decline likely due to screening tests that enable doctors to detect and, if necessary, remove precancerous growths, researchers write in the journal Gastroenterology.

Still, the disease kills more Americans than any other cancer except lung cancer, and half of all Americans over 50 aren?t getting any screening for it, according to the American Cancer Society.

Since Medicare and private insurers began covering screening colonoscopy for average-risk people in 2001, colonoscopy has become the main screening tool. But some recent studies have questioned whether it is any better at reducing cancers in the upper part of the colon than sigmoidoscopy, the scientists write.

Colonoscopy involves inserting a flexible lighted tube tipped with a camera through the entire rectum and colon. Sigmoidoscopy involves inserting a flexible camera-tipped tube through the rectum and only into the lower part of the colon.

Source: http://www.m.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/news/20121023/drop-colon-cancer-colonoscopy?src=RSS_PUBLIC

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