A national study that included UAB researchers and about 6,100 Alabama volunteer participants has found that screening for colorectal cancer by a procedure less invasive than colonoscopy can reduce cancer incidence by 21 percent and death by 26 percent. The study and an editorial about its significance were both published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Increasing the number of screenings for the cancer in people 55 and older could reduce those deaths.
One way to screen is a colonoscopy, which requires bowel cleansing and anesthesia for the patient, and a medical specialist who examines the entire four-foot length of the colon with an endoscope. A procedure known as flexible sigmoidoscopy examines only the lower part of the colon --the 18-inch sigmoid colon -- with an endoscope, but it can be done by a nurse-practitioner or primary care doctor, and only requires the patient to have an enema.
Researchers didn't expect flexible sigmoidoscopy -- which some have said is like doing mammography on just one breast -- to have such benefits, said Dr. Mona Fouad, who is director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham's division of preventive medicine, and one of the authors in today's study, which followed participants for nearly 15 years.
"It's effective, cheaper and easier," said Fouad. "Our message is to encourage people to get screening, and any screening is better than none."
UAB has been a leader in studying the disparities in cancer deaths among blacks and whites, including colorectal cancer.
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