![]() To get more concrete information on the impact of colorectal cancer screening with colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy beyond age 75, Dr. And the risk of these possible harms tends to be greater in older people, Dr. Preparing for a colonoscopy requires a thorough cleansing of the entire colon before the test, which can lead to dehydration and other problems. “There are risks involved with colonoscopy, such as bleeding and perforation of the colon, and also risks involved with the preparation, especially in older people,” Dr. The panel’s guidance for people over age 75 is based mainly on studies that use computer modeling to calculate the benefits and harms of screening for people in this age group, Dr. ![]() In its latest recommendations on colorectal cancer screening, USPSTF concluded that, for people 76 to 85 years old, “patients and clinicians should consider the patient's overall health, prior screening history, and preferences” in deciding whether screening is appropriate. The new findings, which came out after the latest USPSTF guidance was developed, might make physicians a bit more likely to recommend screening for their older patients, “but these recommendations should still be personalized to the patient,” Dr. Nevertheless, the decision to screen people aged 76 to 85 should still be made on a case-by-case basis by considering the potential benefits and harms for each patient, said Asad Umar, D.V.M., Ph.D., of NCI’s Division of Cancer Prevention, who also was not involved with the new study. The study's results are noteworthy because they provide some of the first real-world evidence suggesting that people might benefit from screening beyond age 75, said Shivan Mehta, M.D., a gastroenterologist and health policy researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved with the new study. The findings were published May 20 in JAMA Oncology. ![]() His team found that the risk of dying from colorectal cancer was reduced by more than a third in people over age 75 who had been screened by colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy, compared with people in the same age group who did not undergo either of these screening tests. Chan co-led the new study assessing the impact of colorectal cancer screening in more than 56,000 people aged 75 or older. ![]() Although the study’s findings don’t contradict the advisory panel’s screening recommendations for older Americans-that is, that the decision should be made on a case-by-case basis-the researchers believe their results provide helpful information for physicians to use in discussing whether their older patients should get screened for colorectal cancer.īecause the task force suggests that decisions about screening people 76 to 85 years old be made selectively, “it’s been a bit of a gray area for physicians, and for patients, to know what to do,” said Andrew Chan, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital.ĭr. Now, a new study provides some evidence that screening for colorectal cancer appears to be beneficial for people beyond age 75 as well. But while the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) just updated its guidance to recommend screening for all adults aged 45 to 75, the panel concluded that the “net benefit” of screening after age 75 is small, and did not change its guidance for this age group. Screening for colorectal cancer, which can detect cancer and precancerous lesions before symptoms develop, has been shown to reduce deaths from the disease. This increase played a key role in the new recommendation by an independent US advisory panel to start screening for colorectal cancer at age 45 instead of 50. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2021.1364.įrom the untimely death of “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman, to a recent photo essay in GQ magazine, the rapid rise in the rate of colorectal cancer among younger adults has been in the news lately.
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