A significant study suggests that colonoscopy-based screening for gastrointestinal cancer may not save lives.
For decades, gastroenterologists have praised the unpleasant operation, in which a tiny tube coupled with a camera is inserted via the anus into the bowels to check for intestinal disorders.
However, Norwegian researchers that evaluated the screening’s benefits have concluded that it is not a panacea.
In principle, offering colonoscopies to thousands of people would only reduce diagnostic rates by a fifth.
According to the decade-long study of more than 80,000 individuals in their 50s and 60s, there was no significant variation in the frequency of fatalities.
Real-world studies published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine revealed colonoscopies may not be as beneficial as previously believed.
However, they emphasized that the treatment remains a helpful screening tool since it helps discover malignancies that would otherwise go unnoticed.
However, the detection rates were comparable to those of at-home tests sent to adults aged 60 to 74 in the United Kingdom.
On the National Health Service, colonoscopies are only performed on British citizens with blood in their stool samples.
In contrast, the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends that all persons between the ages of 45 and 75 undergo a colonoscopy every ten years. Other screening options, such as stool testing, are also available.
Further analysis revealed that colonoscopies had a far more pronounced impact on cases and fatalities among the subset of those who volunteered for the test.
The test’s invasiveness discourages many individuals.
Colonoscopies can detect precancerous growths that can be removed before they develop into tumors.
This helps prevent the development of cancer and decreases the need for more invasive treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy in the future.
Each year, there are approximately 43,000 new instances of colon cancer in the UK and 106,000 in the United States.
Over the past few decades, rates have skyrocketed, and experts blame diets high in processed and red meat.
The first-ever random trial of this kind monitored the health records of 85,585 individuals from Poland, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
Professor Michael Bretthauer, a gastroenterologist at Oslo University Hospital, led the study.
Participants were between 55 and 64 years old when the study began.
Approximately 40% of the 28,220 individuals who were invited for a single colonoscopy screening accepted the offer.
Others were not screened since it was not suggested as a regular procedure in their nation.
After an average of 10 years of follow-up, the screening group had 259 instances of colon cancer compared to 622 in the other cohort.
The statistical study revealed that colonoscopies only reduced illness incidence by about 18%.
Professor Bretthauer stated, “It is not the silver bullet we believed it to be.” I believe we may have sold too many colonoscopies.
This is a landmark study, Dr. Samir Gupta, a gastroenterologist at the University of California, San Diego, who was not involved in the research, told Stat.
“I believe everyone expected colonoscopy to perform better,” Perhaps colonoscopy is not as effective as previously believed.
A gastroenterologist at the Veterans Health Administration, Dr. Jason Dominitz, predicted that 15-year follow-up research will likely reveal a bigger effect on mortality.
I do not believe anyone should cancel their colonoscopy, he continued.
