What Doctors Don't Tell YouConventional screening tests for colorectal cancers are failing to identify a substantial proportion of cancers, say Australian researchers.
In reviewing the case notes from patients attending endoscopy clinics in Melbourne, researchers found that screening using a combination of faecal occult blood tests and flexible sigmoidoscopy misses a substantial proportion of premalignant adenomas. The researchers say that this is because a quarter of adenomas develop in the proximal colon, beyond the reach of the flexible endoscope (Med J Aust, 2000; 172: 428-30).
Daniel Redwood DC
Tom Ferguson MD
