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A new
study by Japanese researchers has found that over half of
colon cancers in the elderly may be missed if sigmoidoscopy
is used for screening in place of colonoscopy.
The explanation
lies in the fact that the frequency of right-sided colon cancer
increases with patient age, and the sigmoidoscope does not
reach the right side of the colon.
The researchers
said that in 191 patients who were found by colonoscopies
to have colon cancer, the proportion with right-sided colon
cancer rose steadily from a low 15 percent of those under
50 years of age to a high of 57 percent for those over age
80.
"Over
half of colon carcinomas may be missed if sigmoidoscopy alone
is used for screening," the researchers reported in Gastrointestinal
Endoscopy. "The frequency of right-sided colon cancer
increases with patient age. Hence, colonoscopy may be indicated
in the elderly for colorectal cancer screening."
Source:
Colorectal
Cancer Week of April 7, 2002
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