The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has updated their colorectal cancer screening recommendations.

Changes from the 2002 guidelines include recommendations not to routinely screen people over 75 and not to screen people over 85 at all. Decisions about screening between 76 and 85 need to be made in light of individual health, prior screening, and life expectancy.

The recommendations have dropped barium enema as a screening option. They do not include either CT colonography (CTC or so-called virtual colonoscopy) or DNA stool tests, saying that there was not enough current evidence to judge the harms and benefits of the new technology. Read the rest of this entry »

Screening people for colorectal cancer before they reach 65 and are eligible for Medicare could save millions of dollars of future Medicare costs according to a New York City study.

While Medicare covers the cost of screening colonoscopies, people need to be 65 to benefit.  Many uninsured adults from 50 to 64 have no way to get screened for colorectal cancer at all. Read the rest of this entry »

Current colorectal cancer screening guidelines call for testing average risk people when they reach their fiftieth birthday.  But is that soon enough?  Would earlier screening find more adenomatous polyps and prevent more colorectal cancer?

Scientists at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine reviewed nearly 3,600 autopsies performed at Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1985 through 2004.  They compared the younger group from 20 to 49 to older  patients from 50 to 89. They looked at the adenomatous polyps found in each decade of life, as well as patient sex and race and the location of the polyps in the colon.

Fewer than 2 percent of the autopsied patients in their twenties had adenomas, rising to about 3.6 percent between ages 40 and 49.  However, the number of people with adenomas increased sharply after 50. Read the rest of this entry »

Colon and rectum

Both black men and black women are more likely to have large polyps found during screening colonoscopies than whites.  Results of a large study that collected information from 67 gastrointestinal practices over two years found 6.2 percent of whites and 7.7 percent of blacks had colorectal polyps (adenomas) were larger than 9 millimeters.  These advanced adenomas have the most risk of developing into colon or rectal cancer. Read the rest of this entry »

Hair stylists and barbers in South Carolina are delivering a life-saving message to the folks sitting in their chairs — see your doctor about being screened for colorectal cancer.  More than 40 hair care professionals have already been trained in how to help their clients avoid colon and rectal cancer by following screening recommendations.  The goal is to reach at least 100 stylists, each promising to talk to 100 clients. Read the rest of this entry »