Colonoscopy Re-screening Guideline

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Colonoscopy is the most effective way to screen for colorectal cancer, but for most patients, having a colonoscopy is no walk in the park. Now new research shows a negative colonoscopy means plenty of time before a repeat.

In a study done at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, researchers found the risk of developing colorectal cancer within five years is extremely low among people who had an initial colonoscopy that showed no polyps (a possible sign of cancer).

“For that reason, once someone has had a negative initial colonoscopy, there is no need for that person to have another colonoscopy sooner than five years after that screening,” David Ransohoff, M.D., professor of medicine at UNC at Chapel Hill, was quoted as saying.

In the study 1,256 people were given a follow up colonoscopy five years after they showed no signs of cancer in an initial colonoscopy. None of these patients were found to have cancer in the re-screening. Polyps were found in 16 percent of the participants, but only 1.3 percent had polyps that were identified as precancerous.

Men were more likely than women to develop any kind of polyp and have more advanced polyps.

SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, Sept. 18, 2008

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