Latest Colorectal Cancer Research
In science news, a new study shows 40 percent of all colorectal cancers might be prevented if everyone had colonoscopy screening as recommended. The large, long-term study from the Harvard School of Public Health, or HSPH, supports existing guidelines that suggest individuals with an average risk for colorectal cancer have a colonoscopy every ten years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, calls regular screening beginning at age 50 “the key to preventing colorectal cancer,” which is the second leading cause of cancerrelated deaths in men and women in the United States. Colorectal cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the lower part of the large intestine known as the colon and in the rectum. The National Cancer Institute expects U.S. doctors to diagnose 142,820 cases of colorectal cancer in 2013 and believes 50,830 will die from the disease that year. Colonoscopy and Other Screening Tools for Colorectal Cancer Doctors use screening tools like colonoscopy, fecal occult blood tests, and sigmoidoscopy as part of regular screenings. Fecal occult blood tests test for the presence of blood hidden in stool. During a sigmoidoscopy, a doctor uses a camera mounted onto a long, flexible tube inserted into the patient’s rectum to view the lowest part, or the distal end, of his colon. A doctor uses the tube and mounted camera technology during a colonoscopy to see further into the higher part, or proximal end, of a patient’s colon. Cancer can occur in either the distal or proximal regions of the large intestine. The study, which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, underscores the importance of regular screenings. Support for the study came from the National Institutes of Health. Co-author of the study and associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology at HSPH Shuji Ogino said the study “provides strong evidence that colonoscopy is an effective technique for preventing cancers of both distal and proximal regions of the colorectum, while sigmoidoscopy alone is insufficient for preventing proximal cancer." The researchers analyzed data gathered from 88,902 people participating in the two long-term studies, the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. The Harvard scientists based their study on responses to questionnaires issued to participants every two
years between 1998 and 2008. Among the participants, researchers identified 1,815 cases of colorectal cancer and 474 deaths from the disease. The Harvard scientists found that both sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy lowered the risk for developing or dying from colorectal cancer in the distal, or lower part of the colon but that only colonoscopy reduced the risk for cancer in the proximal, or higher part of the large intestine. Sigmoidoscopy alone is unlikely to reduce the risk for developing or dying from cancer that starts in the upper portion of the colon. Additionally,
the researchers found that
widespread
compliance
with
recommended
colonoscopy screenings every ten years could reduce the overall prevalence of colorectal cancer by 40 percent. These findings could help improve and strengthen the current guidelines for colorectal cancer screening. For updated information on cancer research, science news articles, and current science events visit our website at www.LabRoots.com