Annual Fecal Occult Blood Test Cost-Effective Screening Option

What’s the best way to get large groups of people screened for colorectal cancer?

Surprisingly it may not be colonoscopy but fecal occult blood testing (FOBT).

A computer model has found annual home testing with a  fecal occult  blood test, either Hemoccult II® or Hemoccult SENSA®,  is more cost-effective than colonoscopy every 10 years to screen people of average risk for colorectal cancer.

The model compared the number of life years saved under several scenarios of costs and  compliance with annual testing and follow-up colonoscopies after positive guaiac tests.  For the same fixed budget, more people could be screened with an FOBT and more life years saved. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on August 2nd, 2010
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: fecal occult testing, FOBT, screening

Screening Rates Improving, but Inequalities Remain

One out of three Americans who needs colorectal cancer screening hasn’t gotten it.

There are 22 million men and women in the US who haven’t had a life-saving test than can prevent colorectal cancer.

But the good news is that screening rates are going up.  In 2000, half of people who should have been screened reported a current test.  Now almost two-thirds have colorectal cancer screening up-to-date

The bad news is that screening rates for the uninsured are almost half those for people with insurance.  Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on July 7th, 2010
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: CDC, screening

Capsule Colonoscopy Has Low Sensitivity

A swallowed capsule equipped with a video camera didn’t find as many polyps as conventional colonoscopy and missed 5 of 19 cancers. Sensitivity improved with a well-cleaned colon.

Doctors in Europe examined 328 patients who either had colon disease or were suspected of having it with both a capsule colonoscopy and traditional optical colonoscopy.  The capsule contained  tiny video cameras at both ends that transmitted images wirelessly from the upper GI tract and the colon. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on July 16th, 2009
Posted in: Research & Treatment News, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: capsule colonoscopy, PillCam, screening

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cancer killer in the U.S.

In the month of March we are working to increase awareness that lives can be saved with screening. and colorectal cancer often can be prevented.

There is no shame in preventing cancer, and there are no reasons not to undergo screening. I have done my colonoscopy myself since I have a family history of colon cancer. It was pretty easy. The worst was the preparation a day before…which, in fact, was my day in Norris clinic. When I can do it, you can.

Regular screening tests can find precancerous polyps so they can be removed before they turn into cancer. We know that screening with colonoscopies can also find colorectal cancer early when treatment can cure the cancer.
Continue reading…

Posted by Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD on March 23rd, 2009
Posted in: From the Desk of Dr. Lenz | No Comments »
Tags: colorectal cancer awareness, Preventing Colorectal Cancer, screening

Colorado Colorectal Screening Program

The Colorado Colorectal Screening Program began in 2004 screening uninsured people by linking community primary care clinics to endoscopists. Funding comes from an additional tax on tobacco.  Since its beginning in 2004, CCSP has screened 6,850 people.

The program estimates that it has prevented 180 cases of colorectal cancer and 80 deaths.

Primary focus is on the uninsured 50 to 64, but colonoscopies are also offered to high-risk people under 50.  Program participants need to have incomes below 250 percent of poverty. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on March 23rd, 2009
Posted in: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: screening