Colonoscopies Better for Women
Reported May 20, 2005
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Colonoscopies are better at detecting colorectal cancer in women than a procedure known as flexible sigmoidoscopy, a new study shows.
Researchers participating in the Colorectal Neoplasia Screening with Colonoscopy in Average Risk Women at Regional Naval Medical Centers (CONCeRN) in the United States performed colonoscopies on 1,463 asymptomatic women referred for the procedure. Researchers compared their results with results from use of flexible sigmoidoscopy.
Results show a colonoscopy more effectively detected advanced neoplasias in the women than flexible sigmoidoscopy. Colonoscopy revealed advanced neoplasia in about 5 percent of women, compared to less than 2 percent of them if flexible sigmoidoscopy had been used alone. Also, about two-thirds of men would have had their lesions identified by flexible sigmoidoscopy alone compared with about one-third of women.
A colonoscopy and a flexible sigmoidoscopy both use a thin flexible tube to help doctors visualize the colon — typically on a video monitor. However, a colonoscopy can examine the entire colon, while a flexible sigmoidoscopy only examines the last two feet of the colon.
Authors conclude, Colonoscopy may be the preferred method of screening for colorectal cancer in women.
Colorectal cancer, according to background information in the study, is the second most common cause of death from cancer in the United States.
SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine, 2005;352:2061-2068
