New study questions the effectiveness of colonoscopies – CTV

Oct. 10, 2022

Colonoscopies are a dreaded rite of passage for many middle-age adults.

The promise has been that if you endure the awkwardness and invasiveness of having a camera travel the length of your large intestine once every decade after age 45, you have the best chance of catching — and perhaps preventing — colorectal cancer. It’s the second most common cause of cancer death in the United States. Some 15 million colonoscopies are performed in the U.S. each year.

Now, a landmark study suggests the benefits of colonoscopies for cancer screening may be overestimated.

The study marks the first time colonoscopies have been compared head-to-head to no cancer screening in a randomized trial. The study found only meagre benefits for the group of people invited to get the procedure: an 18 per cent lower risk of getting colorectal cancer, and no significant reduction in the risk of cancer death. It was published Sunday in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Read more: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/new-study-questions-the-effectiveness-of-colonoscopies-1.6103049