Given that colon cancer, one of the most common and deadliest cancers in developed countries, is largely preventable, it’s not surprising that experts never tire of repeating the importance of screening. and the screenings. However, some of the most effective tools in this regard can be be somewhat invasivewhich tends to discourage many people from undergoing them.
Colonoscopy raises survival to 90%
In this line, a new study published in the academic environment JAMA Network Open has found that about half of the people who get a positive result on a stool test (normally, in occult blood tests; although different forms of screening have been implemented more recently that analyze various parameters related to the presence of neoplasms), they do not go so far as to undergo a colonoscopy that could save their lives.
Depending on the type of screening, say the authors, stool tests are between 71 and 92% accurate. And if we think that early detection of colon cancer achieves a five-year survival of up to 90%, it is alarming to observe that only 56% of patients with positive stool screenings make an appointment for a colonoscopy over the following year. It appears, according to reports from healthcare providers, the perceived discomfort of the test plays a large role in the decision to forego the procedure.
The data comes from a sample of no less than 32,769 US patients between the ages of 50 and 75 who tested positive in a stool test between January 2017 and June 2020. Therefore, and without losing sight of that the a priori results are only extensible to the american population, It is a wide-ranging study with great representative value.
References
Mohl JT, Ciemins EL, Miller-Wilson L, Gillen A, Luo R, Colangelo F. Rates of Follow-up Colonoscopy After a Positive Stool-Based Screening Test Result for Colorectal Cancer Among Health Care Organizations in the US, 2017-2020. JAMA Network Open (2023) DOI:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.51384